But he said the resilience of their youngsters to stand up against the unbeaten flag favourites was a positive after they gave up a late lead in their first loss of the year.

The Demons led by 19 points late in the final term, but were eventually overrun by ten points in the match of the season thus far.

Asked if weary midfield legs due to injuries, or not taking the game on enough late, was the reason, Perryman said: "A bit of both".

"There's some things we would do differently next time. It's tough when you play a side like that, when they get a roll lit can be hard to stop, but we'll take some lessons out of it.

"Our midfield legs were pretty shot and we felt we could hang on, but it was a long quarter and they came over the top of us. We could have done a few things differently looking back, but they're a good side."

While they proved they're a legitimate contender at their best, trying to close out a lead against the league benchmark is a situation few Demons players have experienced.

Perryman said they will be far better placed to deal with the pressure when they meet later in the year.

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"After the game it was pretty raw, but we could see some of our young guys who hadn't played in a game like that really stood up," he said.

"Some of the senior guys like myself and a couple of other guys probably weren't at our best, which was disappointing.

"It's a situation we haven't been in for a few years, but saying that we were out on our feet a bit as well, having a couple of midfielders go down earlier in the game restricted our rotations.

Defender Josh Gunning will miss this Saturday's away clash against Wagga Tigers after picking up hamstring and shoulder injuries against the Lions.

Matt Klemke also failed to finish the game with a shoulder injury, an issue which has plagued him in the past.

He had an MRI on Tuesday, but Klemke's initial hopes are it isn't a long term problem.

"I should get the report back in the next day or two and go from there," Klemke said.

"I was pretty lucky. I've have them reconstructed (before) and got a bone block in the front. That saved me, if I didn't have that it could have been a different story."

Their absence will be offset by the return of Dan Frawley (hamstring), while Dan Kennedy could also be up for selection.

"He (Klemke) got an MRI yesterday and we're waiting for results from that, but the initial thought is it's not as bad as first thought," Perryman said.

"He's had shoulder problems in the past, but touch wood it's not as bad.

"A couple of the young guys and key defenders had some big moments. Especially losing Josh Gunning early, he's pound-for-pound one of our best defenders.

"Young guys like Harry Radley, James Pope and Chad Fuller had to be moved around a little bit. I thought they stood up really well, and they probably haven't played in a game like that before."

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