CLAYTON coach Ben McGee has called on his players to smarten up after repeatedly giving away 50-metre penalties in their loss to Chelsea Heights on Saturday.
McGee said Heights was handed four goals from 50-metre penalties during the Clays' 22-point loss which saw them drop to seventh on the Southern Football League division 1 ladder.
The Clays face a major test against an in-form Dingley at Souter Oval this Saturday, with the Dingoes coming off an upset win over Cheltenham.
McGee said his players couldn't win matches unless they found the discipline needed to avoid catching the umpires' ire.
"We are killing ourselves with those penalties," he said. "We have just got to smarten ourselves up; we can't blame anyone for that, it's just us not being disciplined enough, it's killing us."
The Clays got within 11 points of Chelsea Heights in the final term but couldn't find the goals needed to take control of the contest.
McGee said his side lacked a forward good enough to kick "quality goals" needed in a pressure game but he also said the Clays forward line was depleted with Aaron Purves and Chris Morrison playing the full game in the midfield.
"We counter-attacked really well at times but we didn't kick the goals we needed," he said.
"We have to remember that we have made a massive improvement this year but it's starting to come to light that we are probably a few players off the mark in terms of becoming a top-three side."
Regardless of who takes the field for the Clays, McGee said his side had to stand up against the Dingoes on Saturday. They won the previous meeting at Clayton earlier this season.
"This game symbolises where we are going as a club," he said. "We can be very competitive against Dingley, we will have to look at how we are structured against them, we will put some hours into that this week."
SFL division 1: East Brighton 52 points, 215.36 per cent; Chelsea Heights 48, 154.64; Cheltenham 36, 155.91; St Paul's 36, 132.73; Dingley 32, 119.91; St Kilda City 28, 105.57; Clayton 24, 91.44; Heatherton 12, 52.83; Highett 8, 68.48; Mordialloc 4, 35.67.