The Western Bulldogs have consigned a miserable fortnight to the past as they prepare for a monster challenge against St Kilda on Sunday.

The Dogs, considered by many a potential top-four side this year, are fighting to avoid a hat-trick of losses which would cut them adrift of the AFL pacesetters.

And it's those pacesetters - league leaders St Kilda - who they are using as motivation to reverse the losing trend, according to midfield star Matthew Boyd.

Despite the results, Boyd said the team had quickly moved on as a necessity.

"The mood's been pretty positive," he said.

"Obviously we're really disappointed with how we played on the weekend but you've got to move on.

"You can't dwell on it for too long because the week's are too short and you've got to get a lot in to prepare for the next team coming up.

"It's good that we've got a really big challenge this week - that's got our mood up," he said.

Another motivating factor should be the fact that captain Brad Johnson plays his 330th game for the club, overtaking Doug Hawkins to become second overall on the Bulldogs' games record list.

Chris Grant holds the record for games played with the Bulldogs at 341.

Boyd agreed with coach Rodney Eade that it has been the Bulldogs' usual smooth skills which have inexplicably gone missing, causing their drop down the table.

"We generally play pretty instinctive footy and we just haven't done that.

"It sort of compounds it, when one guy makes a mistake and another guy makes a mistake and it builds up on you.

"We've been working really hard on that in the last couple of weeks and hopefully we get it right this week," Boyd said.

He said the team were gearing up for a press-filled clash and one which might not be nice to watch.

"They're working really hard. Obviously they are the in-form side in the competition, first on the ladder, so they're a really good side and they provide a lot of pressure across the whole ground.

"We do have to hold our nerve and just try and combat that pressure with how we play and get in there and win the footy ourselves.

"The key is just to make sure we handle the pressure well because we know the pressure is going to come and it's just how we deal with that and the use of the ball through the midfield.

"It might not be pretty but sometimes you play in those sort of games and you've got to prepare your mind for that," he said.

"It's not always nice and flowing, sometimes that's what footy brings up and you've got to deal with it."

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