The Hawks totalled just 27 points in their loss to Collingwood at Giants Stadium in Sydney on Friday. 

It was the third time in their five games since the competition resumed that Hawthorn have squeezed out less than 50 points

Clarkson said the side had shown strong signs, but it couldn't afford to deliver many more performances like Friday night.

"We're 3-3, and our season is still alive, but it won't be if we continue to play like tonight," Clarkson said.

"We've got to get better, we understand that and we'll do our best to try and see some improvement by the end of the next game."

Match report: Slow-starting Hawks fall to Pies

"We had an inability to get some flow with the ball when we had the opportunity

"We'll try to address those things and see if we can see some improvement

"The bottom line is we have to improve in that space otherwise we are going to find ourselves losing a lot of games of footy."