WESTERN Bulldogs midfielder Tom Liberatore will test his injured knee this week in a bid to play against Melbourne, but Mitch Wallis remains frustrated as his recovery from an ankle injury drags on.

Liberatore had surgery to repair cartilage damage sustained in round 13, but has progressed well through his rehabilitation.

He will take part in Thursday's main training session hopeful of a return against the Demons at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.

"It's going all right at the moment but we'll see how it goes Thursday and how it pulls up from there," Liberatore said.

"It was a 4-5 week injury, so it's all going as planned."

Former Footscray players Tony Liberatore, Steve Wallis and Mark Hunter (back row) with their sons and current Bulldogs Tom Liberatore, Mitch Wallis and Lachie Hunter (front row). Picture: Getty Images

Wallis has been missing since round 10 when he suffered a stress fracture in an ankle and will play a second game at VFL level this weekend as he attempts to shake off continued soreness.

"It's fairly frustrating because there's no 'fix', there's no limit on the time when I'll be back to 100 per cent," Wallis said.

"That's the nature of a stress fracture but I'm going to give it another crack this weekend in the VFL and play a full game unrestricted and just see how it pulls up.

"We've been really conservative with the management of it because it's not fixed but we'll see how it pulls up, then make decisions after the game."

Forward Billy Gowers will test the ankle he hurt in round 11 in a bid to return to the AFL side.

Ryan Gardner, who played two AFL games after he was plucked from the Footscray VFL side at the NAB AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft, has suffered a knee injury at VFL level and will be out for up to nine weeks.