Melbourne coach Dean Bailey is hoping a game or two in the VFL will help young midfielder Nathan Jones become a better player.
Despite being one of Melbourne's best players against North Melbourne last week, Jones was dropped to the VFL on Thursday night and will play for Sandringham against the Northern Bullants on Sunday.
The move to drop Jones was extra puzzling given the 20-year-old has been one of Melbourne's most consistent players in 2008 and is considered a front runner for the Demons' best-and-fairest award this season.
But Bailey said there had been signs for a few weeks that Jones has been in a form slump and he is hoping that the youngster's time in the VFL will be short-lived.
"Nothing more than a little bit of confidence and a bit of form," Bailey said when asked why Jones had been omitted from the senior side.
"Hopefully he will go back to Sandy and get a little bit of that. I would rather him go back at this stage than when his form had fallen further which would be even harder for him to come back from."
"But he is a very driven young man. He is an exciting player, he is just having a little hiccup at the moment, but he will work his way through that as he has done to get himself to where he has."
Jones will line-up for Sandringham alongside veteran ruckman Jeff White, who was once again overlooked for a recall to the senior side.
Bailey indicated that White had done everything right at training during the week, but he would not guarantee the 31-year-old another game in Melbourne's side before the season is out.
"Jeff trained very well, he is very smart, he is a professional in everything he does," Bailey said.
"He is not in the team at the moment, but you never know down the track."
Melbourne is currently on a three-game losing streak and faces an in-form Essendon side at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
While Essendon is heavily favoured by bookmakers to add to the Demons' woes, Bailey is predicting an improved performance by his side this week and for the remainder of the season.
"Our training level has been good. The mood among the players and the morale is still very good," Bailey said.
"We want to get out there and attack the game from the start. We want to win the game. We are not here just to roll on for the next four or five weeks, get close and be happy with that. Every game we go out there with the intention to win the game."