Sydney Swans captain Josh Kennedy says the side has a number of key areas to improve ahead of a clash with Hawthorn at the MCG on Friday night. 

It comes after Sydney fell to a two-point loss to North Melbourne at the SCG on Saturday night.

Kennedy said there was plenty to work on throughout the week in the lead-up to Friday's blockbuster.

“Early we allowed too many uncontested marks and in the second quarter we were able to get on top of that but our tackling pressure wasn’t good enough,” Kennedy said.

“In the second half we played well and our key indicators were up, but we made a few silly errors, they scored off some turnovers and we had our opportunities but didn’t make the most of a lot of them.” 

Shaun Higgins (31 touches, five clearances, one goal) was the Roos’ best and played a key role in his side’s potent outside run early in the game.

North’s reigning best and fairest gathered 12 first-quarter possessions and pulled Ben Jacobs (29), Jed Anderson (24) and Ben Cunnington (24) with him throughout the night.

The Swans lacked defensive pressure in their forward 50 and the Kangaroos were easily able to find open targets throughout the ground. 

But Sydney fronted the fourth term with plenty of confidence despite having trailed by eight points at quarter-time, seven at the main break and eight at the final change.

“The belief was very strong going into the fourth quarter,” Kennedy said.

“I thought when we got our noses in front we were going to really pin the ears back.

“We had all the opportunities and we had a lot of the play, but we just left it too late to bring the pressure and intensity around the ground.”

Sydney did its best to cling to a three-point advantage with less than three minutes on the clock, but Mason Wood handed North the lead when he goaled on the run in his return from a broken thumb.

The Swans won the following clearance and wasted no time in entering their forward 50 but weren’t able claw back the deficit.

The dying minutes were played deep in the Swans’ front half but a flooding Roos defence would continually deny Sydney as the sides battled through stoppage after stoppage.

A highlight among the loss was the performance of blossoming forward Will Hayward, who bagged a Swans-high three goals.

The 19-year-old South Australian was strong on the lead and gloved two sensational pack marks early in the final stanza.

He descended with the first within the opening 30 seconds of the last term and made no mistake from the ensuing set shot to close the deficit to two points.

“He’s been very good the last two weeks and when we’ve needed him to lift he really has,” Kennedy said.

“He continues to develop, as do a number of our younger players, which is exciting.”

But Hayward’s stand-out performance wasn’t enough and Kennedy said the Swans would quickly turn their attention to the Hawks.

“Out on the MCG and a six-day turn-a-round, which is good – not too much time to think about this one,” Kennedy said.

“We’ll have to dust off the wounds and focus on the Hawks pretty soon. We’re looking forward to getting down there and hopefully we bounce back.”