Collingwood teammates playing 150m away from Travis Cloke will have a say in how quickly the key forward can return to top AFL form.
Assistant coach Ben Hart says they must focus on team offence as well as team defence in Saturday's match against West Coast at the MCG.
The spotlight has again fallen on Cloke this week as he continues his below-par start to the season.
Apart from his four-goal haul against North Melbourne in round five, Cloke has not been at his best and has gone goalless in five matches.
He only managed one goal in last week's surprise loss to Adelaide.
Hart, Collingwood's backline coach, said the Magpies would help Cloke if they moved the ball out of defence quicker.
"You hear the term team defence a lot, but it's almost team offence as well," he said.
"We probably haven't been operating on all cylinders with that - being a little bit slow and not taking risks with the footy.
"We need to try and execute our offence a bit better so we can get Travis in good one-on-one situations and a bit more space to operate in."
But the 'Pies defenders will also have to keep a close eye on the Eagles' forwards.
Josh Kennedy is coming off an 11-goal haul against Greater Western Sydney and he forms a powerful key forward partnership with Jack Darling.
West Coast ruckmen Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox add to the mix when they go into attack.
The Magpies have recalled key defender Nathan Brown, who has not played at senior level since suffering a dislocated shoulder in round two.
He has come in for young backman Lachie Keeffe, who struggled in the Crows loss.
Hart said the Magpies at least restricted Adelaide to 76 points, but added they did not support each other enough when the Crows kicked clear in the second half.
"Our workrate in the team defence wasn't quite where it needed to be in the second half," he said.
"We weren't helping each other out.
"We left too many one-on-ones around the place and too much left to too few.
"Certainly, that's why they were able to get a good run-on."
Collingwood have won nine of their past 10 matches against the Eagles.
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