WESTERN Bulldogs key defender Jordan Roughead is set to return to the side just seven weeks after having shoulder surgery.

Roughead dislocated the AC joint in his shoulder in the Bulldogs' round three win over Richmond.

The 23-year-old trained strongly at the Whitten Oval on Thursday morning, participating in contact drills and did not appear to be hampered when marking overhead.

Prior to the session coach Brendan McCartney said Roughead would be named to play Gold Coast on Sunday at Metricon Stadium, provided he got through training unscathed. 

"He's been back running at good speeds, jumping at about three or four weeks after the surgery," McCartney said on Thursday morning.

"He's a good young man Roughy, his rehab has been just brilliant. He's a great example to all his teammates. 

"He's got himself ready to go, he just needs to get through training today and he'll play on Sunday."

The return of Roughead will relieve some of the pressure from a developing Bulldogs' backline with veteran Dale Morris holding down the fort alongside young pups Easton Wood, Fletcher Roberts and Jake Stringer.

"[Roughead] can play on people that are hard to counteract," McCartney said.

"He just does the little things well. He's not a perfect defender but he understands that. He just does the basics of the game well. 

"The stats showed that last year he led the competition in one percenters, which not many people would know. He just spoils and blocks and gets a hand in, they're worth their weight in gold tall blokes that do that."

Meanwhile forward Tom Williams appears unlikely to play after straining his calf a fortnight ago in the win over Melbourne.

McCartney admitted Williams was "touch and go" and would need to prove his fitness at training.

However the forward spend the session watching his teammates from the sideline on Thursday morning, and did not participate in drills with the main group. 

The potential absence of Williams from the Bulldogs' attack has been compounded by the losses of Liam Jones to suspension and Tory Dickson to a pectoral injury, leaving the coach with a challenge to restructure the forward line. 

"We're going to put six blokes out there in Bulldogs jumpers, all with a role to play. It may look a little different, not totally different, but we'll manage it," McCartney said.

"We've been here before, we've had to reconfigure our backline and now we'll do that with our forward line. We might actually get a patch soon when they're all available, that will be fun."

Jarrad Grant is "close to playing" according to the coach and could be the perfect replacement for Jones.

The forward fractured his foot in January and had his first competitive hit-out in the VFL a fortnight ago.