Nathan Buckley refused to blame Collingwood's injury toll for the Magpies' loss to the Western Bulldogs on Sunday, but conceded his hands were tied in a disastrous final term for the club. 

The Pies led by 15 points in the third quarter, but a run of injuries to key players halted their push to a third successive victory and saw them overrun at the MCG, with the Dogs claiming a 21-point win.

The Magpies lost Alan Toovey (concussion) in the first half before Taylor Adams (hamstring), Alex Fasolo (shoulder) and Darcy Moore (collarbone) succumbed to injury after the main break.

VIDEO: Watch Nathan Buckley address the media post-match.

Moore's injury early in the last term left the Pies with no fit players on the interchange bench, but Buckley said there were other factors that cost the Pies from continuing their winning run.

"(We had) 44 inside-50s for six goals in the first three quarters and (couldn't) take advantage of our domination of the play for the most part of that. We couldn't put a gap in them and that cost us the game ultimately," he said post-game. 

Buckley said the club would find out the severity of the quartet's injuries "when the dust settles", with Toovey heading to hospital after the game for concussion tests and Adams on crutches with his hamstring problem.

Fasolo attempted to return in the last quarter and tested his shoulder on the boundary line, but didn't pass the requirements to head onto the field and help the stricken Pies. Buckley said the club is not yet sure if the exciting goalkicker has "a crack" in his shoulder.

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"We needed the legs (to get him back), but we just weren't able to get him up. We want to win a game of footy, but we've got a duty of care at the same time," he said. 

Before Moore's injury, the Pies were already down to just one fit player on the bench by the three-quarter-time break. Buckley said the focus then was not placed on who was unavailable but how the Pies should continue to take on the Dogs.

"We didn't talk about who wasn't there. We weren't sure at the time, we had one rotation left, but in the end that (disappeared too)," he said.

"But as I said, there were plenty of areas we were in control of early on where we needed to 'gap' the opposition in shape or form and we weren't able to do it. As much as we lost soldiers, we could've been more effective and efficient in those first three quarters on the scoreboard." 

The Magpies' coaching group tried different ways to counter their lack of rotations in the final quarter, including rotating players through a deep forward position, pushing forwards to wing roles and trying to possess the ball as much as possible.

But he conceded doing that meant the Pies became "too slow" and gave up field position to the Dogs, who kicked five goals to one in the final term.

"In the end, the last quarter went the way you'd expect it to. Having said that, we were right in it until we missed a couple of opportunities going inside-50 which had been happening for the most of the game. We just need to take those chances," Buckley said.

Buckley praised the work of defenders Jeremy Howe (28 disposals, 11 marks) and Ben Reid (22 disposals, 13 marks) for their solid work in the backline, and said the Pies would need to monitor the workload of their players ahead of next Sunday's clash with Port Adelaide at the MCG. 

"You always adjust and tailor your training for what the evidence of the game is telling you, whether it's strategic or tactical or management or load," he said.

"We'll tailor our training for our next opponent and for our own physical status."