Coach Sam Mitchell says his side lacked polish in aspects of its game following a narrow loss to Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday.

The Hawks went down to the Pies by four points, with the match going down to the wire right up until the final minute.

“We played poorly in the first half, and they deserved every part of their lead,” Mitchell reflected post-game.

“We played with the right intent in the third, got right back into it, but we just didn’t quite have the polish to finish it off.”

After trailing the entire first half, the Hawks hit the front for the first time mid-way through the third term.

From there it was an arm wrestle between the two sides, but the Pies proved too strong.

But Mitchell said he was pleased of his groups response following half time.

“We understand where we are at, we’re on a journey as a club,” Mitchell said.

“We know we’re not capable of producing premiership-style football often enough at the moment.

“We didn’t lack energy, intent or effort... but we lacked a bit of footy smarts at different stages of the game.”

Hear more from Mitchell's press conference post-match.