Melbourne coach Paul Roos says he’s ‘not offended’ by North’s selection policy, with the Roos benching five players for the final Home and Away game.

Michael Firrito, Todd Goldstein, Lindsay Thomas, Luke McDonald and Levi Greenwood won’t play on Saturday night at Etihad with the club taking a cautious approach ahead of its Elimination Final the following week.

“I wouldn’t be at all offended, (Brad) Scotty’s got to look after his footy club in the best way he possibly can and we just have to try and play against a good footy team regardless of who is playing,” the Demons’ coach said.

“That’s good management…that’s up to each and every club to manage their players accordingly.”

Lachlan Hansen, Daniel Wells, Jamie Macmillan and Daniel Currie come into the North side, with young forward Mason Wood selected to make his debut.

The Kangaroos have won 12 straight against Melbourne, prompting former Demon Garry Lyon to attack his former side for rolling over too often.

Lyon urged his club to ‘show some gumption’ on The Footy Show and claimed North don’t take Melbourne seriously anymore because of the lopsided results.

Roos though expects his players come out strong after a forgettable end to the year.

“I hope the game gives them a bit of a boost…we’ve definitely made some ground (on last year)…you hope the players take that into the game…and finish off with a strong effort.”

While many Dees will be playing for their careers tomorrow night, Roos doesn’t believe it will be the factor that spurs them on.

“The motivation for our guys hopefully comes in the knowledge that the club’s heading in the right path, we have made some significant improvements. We’ve dropped off in the last month and the players just want to finish off and show the people that we have improved.”

The head coach has already admitted his players are ‘tired’ but doesn’t want to be seen as making excuses.

“There’s excuses and there’s reasons and you don’t want to make excuses as a club, and players don’t want to make excuses.

“At the end of the season, that’s when you look at the reason why you’ve had a season good or bad.”