WESTERN Bulldogs assistant coach Leon Cameron says Friday night's preliminary final face-off with Geelong is something the club has earned.

The Bulldogs were almost unstoppable through the first 15 rounds, second on the ladder with a 13-1-1 record, but then fell away to win just two of their next eight games.

They roared back into form on the weekend, disposing of the Sydney Swans to advance to the penultimate week, and Cameron said the club was entitled to be playing this weekend, dismissing the idea that there was no pressure on his club given the overwhelming favouritism of the Cats.

"We're a good side, we've finished third on the ladder, and we deserve this prelim final," he said.

"We've got everything to lose, because we can't play in a grand final (if we don't win), exactly the same as the Cats.

"If we get beaten, then on Monday morning we wake up and our year's over, and we don't play in a grand final again.

"We've got a massive chance to play on the last Saturday in September, and that's what we're looking forward to.

"We've got a massive hurdle this week, we acknowledge that, but so have they.

"They've got a big hurdle, to get over us."

Cameron warned that concentrating too much on the opposition was a potential pitfall.

"I thought our spirit last week, and our tackling and our pressure, was fantastic, and our ball movement was probably back to where we were hoping it would be.

"We've got to really concentrate on what we can do.

“ We've got to acknowledge the opposition, but if we go in purely concentrating on what they're like, then we'll lose by the first bounce."