Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade says his players need to "get back on the horse" after being derailed by two straight losses.

The Bulldogs face top-of-the-table St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Sunday and desperately need to re-establish momentum.

Eade concedes that skill levels have dropped but said the team leaders were dealing with the issues themselves.

"I think the group with the leadership that they are showing are taking a fair bit of responsibility," Eade said.

"They have a fair bit of discussion as a group so really as a coach I haven't had to say a lot to them.

"I think they've been able to challenge each other but I think overall they've been able to maintain their belief in themselves and you can see that the way they've trained this week, the way they've attacked everything.

"And I think it's good for us to get back on the horse against a very good team.

"Certainly the way St Kilda are playing they are obviously in the best two teams at this stage and I think to test yourself against those teams is the way to go when you have lost a couple and maybe confidence is down a little bit."

Eade said he agreed that the Saints were a benchmark side with their run of five unbeaten games.

"For sure. The fact they haven't lost a game - and I think it's the manner in which they've won the games and their percentage (of 211.8) is a true testament to the way they're playing.

"They're obviously holding teams up - (so) they can't score - and in fact they're scoring heavily themselves.

"It's an enormous challenge, there's no doubt about that."

Eade said ball-handling needed to improve if the Bulldogs were to upset the Saints.

"Certainly the effort's been there. I think at the weekend our contested balls and our stoppages were very good - it's just a matter of being able to use the ball a little bit better.

"That's been one of our strengths and for whatever reason the last couple of weeks it's gone amiss.

"I think the confidence is pretty good among the group. They certainly want to rebound, there's no doubt about that, and other than that it's a good strong mental group."

Eade is expecting a grinding, unattractive contest.

"You need to win the contested ball and be able to do something with it," he said.

"And you need to be able to maintain the pressure and hang in the contest.

"I think it's going to be one of those game's that's probably going to be a low scoring game and it's just going to be a real fight all the way.

"Whether tactics come into it too much ... it's no good relying on tactics if you can't win the ball."

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