WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade is confident his side can emerge from the "trough" it has fallen into, but has conceded his players must contribute more consistently if they're going to be competitive in the coming weeks.

The Bulldogs fell to North Melbourne by 20 points on Sunday at Telstra Dome in what was their third loss in the past month.

Eade said the down patch the Dogs are currently experiencing is not uncommon, and expects them to respond adequately.

"Most players and teams, in such an even competition, you're going to have some troughs," he said.

"I've seen all you guys write about certain teams and players that have been in the gun, but good teams and good players come out of that.

"I've certainly got every faith that this group is going to be able to do that.

"Geelong went through a trough but they still won games because they're good enough."

However, he conceded the Dogs' "workmanlike" spread of players must give their all each week in order to deliver results.

"We are not a good enough side unless we've got everyone working hard. We haven't got the superstars of some teams to be able to turn it on in a switch," he said.

"We can't. We need all players to work hard, and we didn't have that.

"There's form there, so there's confidence. It's not like no-one is playing well, or no-one is playing well in fits and bursts – they are.

"It's just that we need a consistent effort for four quarters, and we are a workmanlike side. We need to have our pressure up, we need to work hard or we're not going to win."

Eade revealed he gave his players an old-fashioned bake at quarter-time after they abandoned plans to play with intensity despite being locked into a top three finish.

"We spoke about that during the week, we've got a team playing for their life and you'd like to think we'd have enough character," he said.

"It didn't look like that. We didn't have the intensity there, and once they got a bit of a burst [at quarter-time], they responded."

He agreed the Dogs are "vulnerable" in defence, with the side rushing back Tim Callan from injury a week early to get game time into the former Cat.

"We both went [inside 50] 51 times and they've scored 31 times. It's a huge percentage once you go inside your forward 50," he said.

"We haven't got the personnel there at the moment. We've got a couple of players out, which leaves us vulnerable."

Ruckman Ben Hudson is expected to play next week after being a late withdrawal with back spasms.