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ACCORDING to North Melbourne, fifth on the ladder with four qualifying matches to play still doesn't equate to a certain finals spot.

Fair enough, too.

Because even though the Roos have found form at the right time, beating Port Adelaide, Collingwood, Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions, a significant, yet familiar challenge looms this week with the Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome.

In round nine the club held on to beat the Bulldogs by three points, after that side's captain Brad Johnson missed a post-siren kick that would have won the game.

It was the Dogs' first loss of the season, however, key position player Drew Petrie doesn't believe the result will have any bearing on this clash.

"[I'm not sure if there's] a mental edge just because we beat them last time," he said. "They're going along really well and have pretty much sewn up that third spot on the ladder.

"We've got a tough task again [and] we've still got to win a few of these games before the season's out to hold on to the top-eight position. The Dogs have been in great form and had another good win over Sydney on the weekend."

But Petrie believes his side will take some confidence into the match, knowing they are capable of matching the Bulldogs at their best.

"It's good having played them not so long ago," he said. "We'll be able to use things from that day to help us beat them again this time.

"We'll just prepare like we do for a normal game and not try and get too get carried away with finals or anything like that."

The 25-year-old also cooled talk that the Roos might claim fourth spot in the coming weeks, should they sustain their run and the Sydney Swans continue their recent slump.

"We've set ourselves for the last eight rounds, [which it] was since the break," he said. "We knew we had to win more than half of those games to make the eight.

"We've nearly done that already, but we're still not guaranteed a spot because everyone is winning around us. It's that close, as we all know.

"We're far from guaranteed a spot in the eight yet, let alone worrying about the top four."

And North Melbourne will hope to regain captain Adam Simpson for Sunday's clash, after he withdrew from the win over the Lions with hip soreness.

"No doubt he'll have to train this week but it's obviously early in the week, so we're still unsure of the definite situation he's in," Petrie said.