WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade won't allow his players to be satisfied with Sunday afternoon's come-from-behind draw with Richmond.

Eade said while it was positive to see his side fight in the last quarter to eliminate a 25-point deficit, he was not pleased with its overall performance in a game it "should have won".

"It's the glass half-full, half-empty sometimes," a philosophical Eade said.

"(For) us as a team, it's good, but top teams don't think like that. Top teams are going to be disappointed with a game they should have won, and (should have) iced close to halftime.

"There's a lot of areas to improve. Sometimes when you win four or five in a row in this competition, the media are going to jump on because they have to write a story.

"It's been positive for us, and we know we've got a lot of work to do, and we've got a lot of improvement to do. We're not up in the top echelon yet, and we need to work through that."

Eade described the Bulldogs' third term as "poor", and said the usually silky Ryan Griffen had a "down day", while Lindsay Gilbee has been "disappointing for a couple of weeks".

He also said former Crow Scott Welsh's return of 0.5 was displeasing, stating "you'd think he'd kick at least three of those".

The match ended in somewhat controversial circumstances, with Will Minson being awarded Brian Lake's shot on goal after the fullback was helped from the field with "back spasms" following his match-saving mark in attack.

Eade said he was unclear on how a player is determined as the designated kicker after a player leaves the field with an injury, but backed his ruckman-turned-forward to convert the kick once Lake departed.

"I don't know what was going through the umpires' minds, how they picked Will or how they pick anyone," he said.

"I don't know how you do it. Is it the closest man to the man who marks it? There could have been at least four players in the pack. I don't know."

He was also diplomatic about a Daniel Giansiracusa shot on goal that was marked by Matthew Richardson on the goal line. While television replays indicated the ball was home for a major, the umpires declared the mark was taken within the field of play.

"I haven't seen the replay," he said.

"The umpiring department will come out with the right answer, and say it was touched."

He said Lake will have an "ultrasound" on the back-related spasm he endured late in the game on Monday, while Brad Johnson received a knock on the calf that "isn't too bad". Jason Akermanis left the field with a blood nose following a knock to the head in the final term, but is also "fine" and came back on later in the game.