HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson is hopeful his side can improve on its Round 1 effort against West Coast Eagles on Sunday.

The Hawks will be looking to bounce back from a 30-point defeat to the Cats in a rematch between the 2015 grand finalists at the MCG.

“Both sides have changed a bit… Both sides are a little bit different to what they were grand final day,” Clarkson said on Saturday morning.

“We’re looking forward to the contest and we need to play a little bit better than we did last Monday against Geelong.

“We were disappointed with our effort there and hopefully we can make amends on Sunday.”

With the likes of Luke Hodge, Jarryd Roughead, Liam Shiels and Bradley Hill sidelined, Clarkson said the Eagles match – and the coming weeks – provide another challenge for the Hawks.

“It’s a big challenge and a lot of clubs have to go through it,” he said.

“You’re going to have these hurdles that you have to overcome from time to time. We’ve been able to overcome these challenges before and we’re hoping we can do so at the present time as well.”

Shiels was considered a possible inclusion for the Hawks earlier in the week, but Clarkson said the Hawks would take no risks with the midfielder.

“He had a fracture to his wrist… You’ve just got to let that heal fully,” Clarkson said.

“We don’t want to be taking any risks with our players. He’ll play when he’s right. He’s getting closer but he wasn’t right for this week.”