A candid Michael Voss admits his players’ attitude has him concerned following Brisbane’s embarrassing start to the AFL season.

Apart from a two-point win over Gold Coast in round three, the Lions have been overrun by Adelaide and suffered heavy losses to the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne.

The club’s triple premiership-winning skipper and greatest player refused to shy away from criticism of his players’ poor form, or speculation his coaching future was again under threat in the wake of the Lions’ abysmal 63-point loss to the Kangaroos.

Brisbane’s disappointing 1-3 start has them already under the pump heading into Sunday’s `Gabba clash with Melbourne, already a must-win match with a tough stretch of games approaching.

Asked on Wednesday if he was beginning to worry about his players’ attitude or if he felt they could dig deeper, Voss offered: “a bit of both. I’m not going to lie, it’s disappointing.”

A terrible performance such as the one against the Kangaroos can shake players up but Voss admitted he could have done without it.

“It’s never good when that kind of performance turns up,” he said.

The limp manner of Brisbane’s loss was of more concern than the margin, triggering speculation about Voss’s tenure at the Lions.

“Based on past experience, I’m not surprised at all (of reports I am under pressure),” said Voss.

“The only way I can explain that is ….. a coach is not what I am, it’s what I do.”

Voss said his players’ character was now facing a stern test.

“After a loss like that you are calling on the character of your group to turn things around quickly and I think we’ve got some really good character in our group,” he said.

“I’m going to back our players in to do that.

“It’s not one game, one moment, it’s the ability to produce that consistency one week after another.

“Our challenge is when Melbourne come at us this weekend, and they will, is how we think through it, put pressure on the ball and create.”

Voss will resist rushing Simon Black back from a knee injury after he tallied 26 disposals in a 60-minute return for the reserves last weekend.

“We’ve got to be mindful he’s completed little of the pre-season and we are going to be very patient with him,” said the coach.

“As much as we’d like to pull the trigger early, unfortunately we can’t do that. It wouldn’t be fair to Simon and it certainly wouldn’t be fair to the team.”

Black will play for the reserves against Gold Coast in Mackay on Anzac Day.