West Coast is preparing for a “fight to the death” against Fremantle on Saturday night, according to midfielder Andrew Gaff.

The Eagles will be seeking redemption during the 45th instalment of the Carlton Draught Derby following a 50-point defeat to Hawthorn at the home of football, while Fremantle will be hoping to continue their hot run of form after bettering defending premiers the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne in the past three weeks.

Gaff told westcoasteagles.com.au he had been keeping one eye on Fremantle in the lead up to the crosstown clash and was impressed with their ability to bounce back from two big losses at the beginning of the year.

“They are playing well, all credit to them after the first couple of weeks,” he said.

“We’re coming off a bad loss and they are coming off a pretty good win from behind against North (Melbourne). We’re going to have to play pretty well. They have got some quality midfielders and it sounds like their forward line is fit and firing at the moment. We’ve got to be on top of our game.”

West Coast needs to make improvements across the board if it wants to notch its fourth-straight derby win this weekend, according to Gaff.

He suggested fundamental skills and contested work would be prioritised during the club’s main training session on Wednesday.

“It’s that consistency across the board week-in, week-out that we need to get right,” he said.

“We’ve shown that our good footy is as good as anyone in the comp, but our poor footy, like (we played) at the weekend and against Richmond, makes for a pretty average team.”

The Eagles will need to up their attack on the ball to nullify the impact of Fremantle’s noted ball winners.

Former captain David Mundy, 2015 Brownlow medallist Nathan Fyfe and 2016 Doig medallist Lachie Neale are all in good touch and have been the driving force behind Freo’s form turnaround. 

However, Fremantle won’t have speedy midfielder Stephen Hill at its disposal on Saturday. The 26-year-old suffered a hamstring injury against the Kangaroos and Fremantle medical staff say he will spend at least four weeks on the sidelines as a result. 

“No doubt it’s handy (Hill’s absence),” Gaff said.

“He’s a quality player and dangerous when he gets the ball. With him out it’s a positive, but they’ve got quite a few guys – Mundy, Fyfe, Neale – that are playing good footy and can hit the scoreboard too. There’s plenty of work for us to negate those guys, but also get on top.”