Western Bulldogs midfielder Liam Picken says his side’s perseverance on Sunday against Collingwood was the major positive to come out of the game.

Despite the “scrappy” affair for the better part of three quarters, Picken said a message from the coach at each break helped the Dogs to get over the line.

“It was a pretty scrappy game until the last quarter, (there was) a little bit of luck but it was good to get the four points,” said Picken, speaking with RSN Radio on Tuesday.

“There wasn’t much flow, it was up and back, and we just couldn’t seem to put it together for the first three quarters.

“Bevo mentioned to persevere and keep working at the breaks and it will come out. It did take until the last quarter to click.”

Although noting the performance wasn’t quite the four-quarter effort the Dogs were after, Picken said his side will still take positives out of the game.

“We had a quick review yesterday but we’ll go through more today. We focus on the positives and the fact there are a few things to work on.

“There is nothing major sticking out but we need to continue to work on the areas that let us down in the first half.”

With the Collingwood pressure a talking point after the game, Picken declared it an area across the league that has dramatically improved.

“Every game is pretty hard, you never get an easy game, I think the pressure’s gone up.”

That pressure is set to continue into round 11, when the sixth-placed Dogs take on the fifth-placed West Coast at Etihad Stadium.

The Eagles will be looking to continue a three-game winning streak, including 77-point and 103-point victories at home, and an eight-point win against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval in round nine.

“The last couple of years they’ve had a really strong forward line with Josh Kennedy in good form and obviously their midfield with Priddis and Naitanui – they’ve got a lot of depth.’

“They had a good win, they’ll be looking forward to coming over here and playing us, and likewise we are too.”