WESTERN Bulldogs defender Dale Morris has emerged as a potential surprise addition to the side should it progress beyond Saturday night’s semi-final against the Sydney Swans.

Morris suffered a fracture in his back in the Dogs' round 21 loss to the Swans at the SCG and was not expected to play again this year.

However, he took part in most of the side's final training session before Saturday's do-or-die clash at the MCG and remains a strong chance to line up in a potential preliminary final against St Kilda.

"He's surprised us a little bit over the last week-and-a-half to two weeks," assistant coach Leon Cameron said.

"That's lifted the spirits around the place as well. He trained today and he's been running a fair bit so he's a huge chance to play next week, but we've got to get over tomorrow night first."

The Bulldogs 25-man squad trained on Friday at Whitten Oval, with emergencies Josh Hill, Brodie Moles and Andrejs Everitt part of the session.

Morris and ruckman Jordan Roughead were the only players outside the squad to take part.

Brian Lake increased his workload from Wednesday's effort at the MCG, but still looked hampered by his collision with Tom Williams in last Saturday night's loss to Collingwood.

Williams also looked slightly proppy, but both players finished the light session in front of a few hundred fans.

Former players Scott West, Doug Hawkins, Tony Liberatore and Paul Dimattina also turned out to see what could be retiring skipper Brad Johnson's final run at Whitten Oval.

Cameron said Easton Wood was ready to go after a three-week layoff with a hamstring injury while Lake and Williams would not be compromised against the Swans.

He said the feeling was positive among the Dogs, who are attempting to put a 62-point qualifying final loss to Collingwood behind them.

"No doubt they (the players) have taken a hit over the last few weeks. I'd be lying to say they didn't," he said.

"Our mood is fine, we're raring to go, we've got a lot of work to do against Sydney who are in great form."

Cameron said forward Andrew Hooper would be more than capable of handling the pressure of playing his first game in a final.

He also doused speculation he was headed to Waverley to work as an assistant coach to Alastair Clarkson.

"It's just another innuendo story that's floating around," he said.

"People just make up stories to try and pull things apart."