West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has admitted his handling of young gun Bo Allan has been “unfair”.

Allan was taken with pick No.16 in last year’s draft, but his first year at the club has been a bit of a struggle so far.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: McQualter admits Bo Allan treatment has been unfair.

The 19-year-old has had an interrupted season after dual illnesses wrecked hopes of an early-season debut before he copped a suspension when he finally did earn his maiden appearance in Round 9 against Melbourne.

Allan returned to the side for the Round 13 loss to Geelong and started as the substitute, coming on in the last quarter.

He again started with the vest against North Melbourne on Sunday, but wasn’t activated until late in the final quarter, playing only the final few minutes of the heartbreaking loss.

Speaking exclusively to 7NEWS Perth, McQualter conceded his handling of Allan hasn’t gone “particularly well”.

“I have to put my hand up. I haven’t handled Bo and the sub particularly well in the last few weeks,” he said.

“I think it’s still something I’m learning in my job how to handle that.

“So, we need to support Bo a bit better, particularly being a young player, putting him on the field with a couple of minutes to go is a little unfair, so we’ll work our way through that.

“I find (the sub role) really challenging, particularly when the game’s in the balance like that.

“You’re wary of bringing somebody on the field off unless they’re injured.”

“It’s an ongoing challenge, but you’ve got to look at it and try and find a way to make it an advantage.”

McQualter couldn’t confirm what level Allan will play at this week, but did say he can “98 per cent guarantee that he won’t be sub this week”.

“We’ll see which level he plays at, though.”

West Coast looked certain to notch their second victory of the season on Sunday when they led North Melbourne by 18 points in the final quarter.

But with victory in sight, they imploded from that point on, committing a host of costly errors as North Melbourne stormed home with the final four goals to snatch a 10-point win.

The result left West Coast in last spot with a 1-12 record - two wins adrift of their nearest rivals Richmond.

It was also the third close game West Coast have lost this season, following two-point defeats to Essendon and Richmond.

“It was a mixture of frustration, anger, disappointment ... that we just played really quite well for three quarters of that game, but couldn’t get the job done,” he said.

McQualter did reserve special praise for Harry Edwards after the young defender kept North Melbourne spearhead Nick Larkey goalless.

“I thought it was one of Harry’s best games he’s played for our footy club,” he said.

“I thought all of our defenders didn’t defend particularly well in quarter one, but we gave them some really strong feedback at quarter time, and Harry led the way after that.

“I think he had 13 intercept possessions and kept Nick Larkey goalless, which is a great effort. So, really good signs for him.”

West Coast will be back in action on Sunday when they host Carlton at Optus Stadium.