Gilbee, who is scheduled to play his 150th game this week, suffered a bruised foot on Friday night against Geelong, while Higgins has been battling groin soreness.
Neither player took part in the full training session on Wednesday, but coach Rodney Eade said both would be given a chance to prove their fitness before the team departs for Canberra on Friday.
"Shaun isn't too bad," Eade said on Wednesday. "We'll certainly name [Higgins and Gilbee] and we'll give them every opportunity to play.
"I don't know what the percentage is -- probably a bit better than 50-50 at this stage -- but there is some doubt."
Eade denied reports Higgins is suffering from a more serious complaint and needs an extended rest.
"I don't know where that came from. That's a total furphy," he said.
"I think it was someone flying a kite who wanted to have a story."
Eade said Andrejs Everitt and Dylan Addison were available for selection after missing last week with foot and knee soreness respectively. Ryan Hargrave remains doubtful but will be right to resume next week, along with Robert Murphy.
He also said he was confident skipper Brad Johnson had recovered from his post-siren shot on goal that could have won the Bulldogs Friday night's game.
"I had a word to Brad straight after the game. He was beating himself up a bit and was very disappointed and took it personally," he said.
"You can't change it. There's nothing you can do. He played a fantastic game and was probably one of the main reasons we were able to get so close.
"I thought his leadership was terrific, but he didn't kick the goal and that's it. It's gone, it's moved on and we had recovery on the Saturday and he was okay."
He also said the Dogs would approach the Swans with confidence having beaten them three times last year.
"They've got their best team on the park so they're obviously up and going," he said.
"They've got some good quality players and we know the way they play, and their ability to close down teams and put pressure on is first rate.
"We're under no illusions with the contest we're going to have, and we may have another couple of players out as well. It's a fairly daunting task against a team that is at full strength and playing well."
