REPLACING Aaron Naughton is a seriously tough task for the Western Bulldogs.

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The 20-year-old is set to miss the next two months with an ankle syndesmosis injury, a cruel blow for the club, considering star midfielder Josh Dunkley went down with the same injury just a week prior.

With recruit Josh Bruce struggling to fire, the key forward roles are now the number one issue coach Luke Beveridge has to get right over the coming weeks. 

Former No.2 draft pick Josh Schache had a solid return last year, kicking a career-high 24 goals in 14 games. 

The former Lion does not crash packs and provide the same aerial threat that Naughton does, but he does make the most of his set shots.

Despite that, it was clear he was nowhere near Beveridge's selection mix as recently as two weeks ago.

"He's (Schache) a listed player who's still got a promising future, but he's not in the team at the moment," Beveridge said after the round two loss to St Kilda.

With circumstances changing dramatically it's not out of the question that Schache can work his way back, but he must bang the door down at training.

If Beveridge wants to replace Naughton with a marking option, then defender-turned-forward Lewis Young might be the best choice.

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Young turned heads in the Marsh Community Series with three goals against North Melbourne, but failed to fire in round one and has yet to crack back into the team following football's return.

The ability is certainly there for Young, but the forward craft is coming along slowly as some defensive habits continue to creep in.

Succeeding as a forward is all mental for the 21-year-old. 

"Trying to keep the game simple and not trying to do much with or without the ball is really important, especially as a key forward if you try and think too much you can get in your own head and play yourself out of the game," Young told AFL.com.au.

"Playing as a defender you spend half your time looking at your opponent and half the time at the ball.

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"Moving from that mindset is important to me."

Positioning has also been a major growth area that Young has put time into.  

"I'm trying to stay in line with the ball and not drifting into positions where I'm not relevant to where the ball is going to be," Young said.

"Just trying to stay in the line of the goals so I can use my strengths, which is to run and jump at the ball and bring the ball to ground or clunk a couple of marks."