JONATHAN Brown must concede the fact it wasn’t his day and injury is not to blame, says Brisbane Lions coach Michael Voss.

Brown was kept goalless and uncharacteristically dropped marks in Sunday’s 12- point loss to Adelaide, but Voss blamed a lack of training rather than injury for his captain’s performance.

“He hasn’t come out and trained for the last two or three weeks and is missing that continuity of being able to get out there and feel the football”, he said.

“Browny is struggling a little bit with his body but then Fevola comes out and kicks five and he is the same situation if not a little bit behind Brown.”
 
Brendan Fevola was in full flight despite pre-game injury concerns, kicking four goals in the first half before Ben Rutten (24 possessions and five marks) was able to quell his influence after the main break. 

The Lions coach explained Fevola’s role was more than his obvious goalkicking abilities.

“The reason why he is down there is because of his work, his chase and his tackling,” he said.

“His work rate was certainly there today and we know that’s what he brings to the table for us.”

Voss was adamant his team has improved over the last month despite succumbing to its fifth-straight loss and slipping to 11th on the AFL ladder.

“There was a lot of good signs for us…things have been pulled apart and we’ve started to make some ground.”

However, Voss said his player’s lack of confidence and inability to finish were aspects that still required attention.

“Our ability to think through the tackle and see that player rather than cough it up is important,” he said.

“When we turned the footy over, they got us on the hop and away they went”.

Voss said more contribution from the whole playing group was the answer to turning around the form slump against Collingwood at the Gabba next week.

“We have six or seven players that aren’t quite contributing to the level that we need.”

“That contribution and the ability to finish are the two big things that warrants you being able to get to the next level.”