Melbourne key forward Jack Watts, one of the most scrutinised players in the AFL, has shrugged off the latest criticism about his playing intensity.

Former Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse and ex-North Melbourne premiership captain Wayne Carey were unimpressed with Watts during Melbourne’s pre-season win over Collingwood on Saturday night at Etihad Stadium.

But Watts had the strong support of coach Mark Neeld post-match.

On Sunday, the 20-year-old said the opinions of Neeld and Melbourne forwards coach Leigh Brown were the only views that mattered to him when it came to his playing form.

“The thing for me is listening to my coach – I’m sure there are many other people out there with many other opinions and that is fine. I’m fine with that,” Watts said.

“I’m used to that by now, that is for sure.

“(I will) take it on board and move on to next week.”

Watts was the No.1 draft pick in 2008 and given his high-profile role as a key forward his form will always attract plenty of public scrutiny.

“When you see him play, he lacks ambition – and that’s damning,” Malthouse said on 3AW.

Neeld worked under Malthouse as an assistant coach at Collingwood until late last year, when he took the Melbourne job.

While noting he had not heard what Malthouse and Carey had said, Neeld did not reject their points of view in his post-match media conference.

But he also backed Watts to the hilt.

“There are a few premierships between those two and they do know what they’re talking about,” Neeld said.

“I see Jack as a very talented young footballer who’s played 40 games.

“People talk about ‘his whole career’ – well, his whole career is about two years’ long.

“He’s got some special talents – there are too many players who can influence a game with low possession counts (and) I think he can.”

Neeld said Watts was being asked to play a different role this season and added his body was still developing.

“He’s got some tricks – I thought his defensive work (on Saturday night) was really good,” Neeld said.

“He had a high inside 50 count for someone who a lot of the time was playing deep, so he makes the most of his opportunities.”

Neeld himself publicly took Watts to task in a newspaper interview late last year, calling on him to concentrate on his football.

“I said one comment in October that’s been replayed about 35 times, so it seems I talk about Jack all the time,” Neeld said.

“He trains really hard, he’s a good young talent and I’m pretty happy to have him on our list.”