"Every game's winnable. We have to recover now and we've got to back up next Saturday against another emerging team,'' McCartney said.
The Dogs have played Fremantle, Richmond, Adelaide, Geelong and West Coast with the Roos, Gold Coast, St Kilda and Port Adelaide to come before the bye.
"Our next month does provide some opportunities to be really competitive.''
The Bulldogs won the inside 50 count 53-52 and the clearance tally 49-40 but couldn’t stay competitive for long enough at Pattersons Stadium.
"It was a disappointing day for our footy club,'' he said.
"For three out of the six games this year, we've had long patches in games where we haven't been hard enough to play against.
"It means when the game is stationary and stops, we're very good at it.
"You have to be able to do that, but there's a lot of space out there too and you have to be prepared to break momentum by getting your hands dirty.
"Sometimes that means just running hard to fill space and to cover, slow the opposition down.
"And we'll get there. But we need our leaders to show the right way and we need our young people to not lose confidence and know that it's the right way to play and the correct way to play.''
Nick Lower received a poke in the eye and Jake Stringer was subbed out but both are expected to play this Saturday at Etihad Stadium.
Brett Goodes will miss, needing to serve another week on the sidelines due to suspension.
