MATCH DETAILS
Western Bulldogs v West Coast at Telstra Dome, Saturday 26 April, 7.10pm

FORECAST
Showers, mainly afternoon. Min 10, Max 18

BETTING
Western Bulldogs $1.20, West Coast $4.20

LAST TIME THEY MET
West Coast 24.14 (158) d Western Bulldogs 9.17 (71, Round 17), 2007, at Telstra Dome

FORM GUIDE
The Bulldogs are undefeated after five rounds. Well, sort of. Last weekend, they came from behind to draw with Richmond in somewhat controversial circumstances. The two points, added to their previous wins over Adelaide, Melbourne, St Kilda and Essendon, leave the Dogs at third on the table behind the undefeated Hawthorn and Geelong.

The Eagles, however, are not travelling as well. At 15th with just one win, which came in round one against the Brisbane Lions at Subiaco, West Coast's stranglehold on the competition appears to have finally come to an end. The Eagles have lost to Adelaide, Fremantle, Sydney and Port Adelaide since the opening week.

MEDICAL ROOM
The Bulldogs had Brian Lake (hamstring/back) undergo an ultrasound on his hamstring, hip and back earlier in the week following the injury he sustained in the last moments of Sunday's game. The club expects him to play, and it also anticipates Scott West's return from a knee injury. Captain Brad Johnson, however, could very well miss this week after struggling with a corked thigh, while Shaun Higgins (ankle) is hopping around Whitten Oval in a moon boot and won't be back for 12 to 14 weeks.

Brent Staker (concussion) is available for the Eagles after missing a week following his run-in with Barry Hall, while Ashley Hansen (hamstring), Eric Mackenzie (calf) and Sam Butler (groin) will be tested. Matt Priddis (knee) and Mark LeCras (groin) will miss at least one more, while Mitch Brown (knee) is down for the season.

RANDOM FACTS
If the Bulldogs win this week, it will be the first time they've been undefeated after six rounds since 1946, when they won the first nine games of the season.

It will also be the first time since 2001 the Eagles have lost five games in a row.

The Eagles will be hoping to celebrate a triple-hit of milestones, with Daniel Kerr and Andrew Embley on track to play their 150th games, while John Worsfold will rack up 150 games as a coach.

The last time the Bulldogs beat the Eagles was in round 13, 2006, when they travelled to Perth to beat the eventual premiers on their home turf.

The Bulldogs have met the Eagles at Telstra Dome just twice before, and are yet to record a victory over them at the Docklands venue.

KEY MATCH UPS

Brian Lake v Quinten Lynch
The talking point of last weekend's game, should he play after hamstring dramas, looks likely to tussle with the big Eagle. Lynch hasn't booted more than two goals in a game this season, but kicked five and won a Brownlow vote when these two sides met in round 17 last year.

Dale Morris v Ben McKinley
The underrated defender could be tasked to take the NAB Rising Star nominee, who is on track to boot six goals this week if his current goal-kicking pattern continues. The young Eagle has kicked three, four and five goal-bags in the past three weeks, and is emerging as a dangerous attacking weapon for a side down on consistent forward options.

Matthew Boyd v Daniel Kerr
It's no secret Kerr is struggling with the added attention that comes with the absence of Chris Judd and Ben Cousins, and applying a hard tag on the superstar could be a way to help the Dogs get on top in the middle.

WHAT THE CLUBS SAY

Western Bulldogs
"I think they'll be hard to beat; their last quarter last weekend was fantastic, kicking seven goals and coming home with a rush. We got up and drew the game with three minutes to go and kicked three goals; 10 minutes more in their game, and the Eagles could have rolled Port. They took a stance, probably the second half of that game, so they're probably looking to take that into this week's game – plus they thumped us here last year and have a good record against us." – Leon Cameron, assistant coach.

West Coast
"It is going to be tough for us, and we need to be playing better. But we are going to work hard and try and start by winning this week. Finals footy is a distant goal, we have got some short term goals we are aiming to achieve. If we can achieve them, that can become a possibility for us. If you string a few games together you do end up right back in the mix. Winning is the key for us this week." – John Worsfold, senior coach.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club or the AFL