Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says his AFL club’s foundations remain strong despite being shaken by a dismal season.

Goodwin’s Demons, touted pre-season as a premiership contender, are struggling in 16th spot with just five wins.

“This club has been built on some really strong foundations over four years,” Goodwin told reporters on Thursday.

“We know culturally we’re in a good space, our players are looking to continually improve.

“We have had our challenges. We’re incredibly disappointed with the year. But we have got six weeks to not waste any time.

“What we can do right now is continue to build the habits, from our players, from our staff, from our environment that will stand up over the test of time.”

Goodwin said the Demons must heed the lessons from their failed season.

“You can’t just wipe a year,” he said.

“You can’t just say ‘that happened for no reason’.

“It happens for a reason and we’re pretty clear about where those reasons are at and what we need to do moving forward.”

Goodwin ruled out emerging forward Sam Weideman from returning from a calf complaint for Saturday’s clash against reigning premier West Coast in Alice Springs.

But he said the club would continue to strive for wins, rather than give games to younger players with an eye on next season.

“We want to win every game we play,” he said.

“We’re going to pick a team that will go up there and put on a really strong performance as best we can.”