THE WESTERN Bulldogs are hopeful Jake Stringer's shoulder injury is not as serious as it looked.

The dynamic forward walked from the ground holding his shoulder at three-quarter time of the Dogs' 48-point win over Gold Coast on Saturday night following a strong bump from Steven May.

Coach Luke Beveridge said the club was optimistic about the extent of the damage and Stringer would have scans on Sunday.

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"Think it's an AC (joint injury) and we'll X-ray him to make sure," Beveridge said after the game.

"We don't think it's that serious at the moment."

Beveridge reserved praise for fellow forward Tom Boyd's contribution following his club-imposed ban for a drunken altercation with teammate Zaine Cordy.

Playing in attack and the ruck, the 20-year-old kicked 1.1 from 11 possessions and had 11 hit-outs.

"He was really productive at times Tommy and you've got to remember he hasn't played at the level for a while," Beveridge said.

"He'll only grow from that and get better and better."

Five talking points: Western Bulldogs v Gold Coast

Beveridge was also delighted with the reception Boyd’s teammates gave him after his towering goal outside 50m in the second quarter when every player ran to congratulate him.

"That was great, that was fantastic," Beveridge said. "It's been a difficult month for him.

"It was up to the players when Tom came back into the side and they were ready to embrace him and that was a prime example of the spirit."

WATCH: Luke Beveridge's full post-match media conference

The Dogs' half-time score of 11.9 was their best return of the season, but they were wasteful in the second half kicking 15.17 from 57 inside 50s.

"If there's any negatives to come out of the game it’s that we didn't finish off our attacking in the second half," Beveridge said.

"I think it was skill and connections, and again, we created the opportunities but (just missed) hitting open players and (not) kicking to advantage."