The Magpies today travel to Gardiner Reserve to take on Gisborne in round eight of the Bendigo Football League.

Castlemaine is yet to win a game this season, with first quarters proving to be a cause of concern for the Magpies.

In round one the Magpies led Kyneton at quarter-time by 24 points, while in round three they were up by a point against Golden Square at the first break.

However, in their other five matches the Magpies have trailed at quarter-time by an average of 33 points.

``The thing with our group at the moment is we can play really well for one, two or three quarters, but in that one quarter we're terrible,'' Eyles said yesterday.

``With the young group we've got, we've just got to learn not to get too far ahead of ourselves, take it quarter by quarter and just try to get a bit of consistency with everything we do.''

While the Magpies are still winless and on the bottom, Gisborne has only won two games to be sitting eighth on the ladder.

Gisborne hasn't lost to Castlemaine at Gardiner Reserve since 2001.

``Gisborne is always hard to beat at home, no matter where they are on the ladder,'' Eyles said.

``But I can't wait to take them on down there.

``The guys are all really keen; we've got nothing to lose, so there should be no excuses.

``It has obviously been a disappointing start to the season, we would liked to have had a score on the board by now, but we've just got to set goals, try to get to them and move on to the next ones.

``And that's what we're doing this week; we're going down there to be as competitive as we can.

``Hopefully, we can keep improving as the season goes on and take that into next year, rather than having a bad attitude and just putting our heads in the sand.''

The Magpies have given an opportunity to Zac Plant from the under-18s, while ruckman Guy Marshall returns from suspension.

Eyles, who made a return to senior football last round in the Magpies' 74-point loss to Kangaroo Flat, is out injured today.

``I did a hamstring, a hip and a groin all in one hit,'' Eyles said.

``But the future of Castlemaine isn't about me running around; I just wanted to get out and have a kick because I love it.

``The future of Castlemaine is to keep the young group together and build on it.''

Today's game starts at 2.20pm.