With Chris Scott declaring Hawthorn to be the best side in the competition, he says his side must play to their absolute best to knock the Hawks off their perch.

Speaking to 3AW on Sunday, Chris Scott said his side doesn’t give into the pressure of their winning streak over the Hawks.

“It’s only pressure if you believe in those things, I don’t think it’s an issue because we haven’t bought into it,” Scott said.

“We rate Hawthorn as a really good team, in my time we have been extremely fortunate to get over the line against them.

“We certainly don’t think we have a massive tactical advantage; clearly we don’t have a talent advantage either. 

“We are just going to have to work really hard and hope that the game can be close enough that we can do our stuff when the game’s on the line.”

Speaking to 3AW during the week, reliable defender Andrew Mackie said the Cats’ strong contested possession count in their win last week over Fremantle gives his side a confidence boost heading into Round 15.

“It’s one of those things every side prides themselves on, the contested ball stats. 

“To come out against a side that are very good at it was great for us and went a long way to the result we had on the weekend.

“The thing for us is going to be to put it together week on end leading into hopefully a really good finals series.”

Discussing the blockbuster against the Hawks this week, Mackie said he is aware the brown and gold get closer to a win each time the two sides face off.

“We’re realists and know they (Hawthorn) are the best side in the competition and we have to play to our best to knock them off this week,” Mackie said.

“It’s a really important game for us, we want to keep our heads in that top four as there’s a lot of sides contending.

“It’s a really important game for now and that’s all we’re focused on.”