Fremantle coach Mark Harvey is preparing his charges for an early Western Bulldogs onslaught when the two AFL teams clash at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Despite sitting third on the table and boasting the second-best scoring potency in the competition, the Bulldogs have struggled to convert their on-field dominance into fast starts.

The Dogs have won just seven of 17 first quarters this season, with their lacklustre openings proving costly in recent losses to Collingwood and St Kilda.

Surprisingly Fremantle, who are languishing near the foot of the table with just four wins, have won 10 first quarters this season.

Harvey said he expected the Bulldogs to come out with all guns blazing in a bid to arrest their first-quarter slumps.

"Absolutely," Harvey said on Wednesday.

"They've got into the finals and are looking ahead at how they can develop and close down any deficiencies they've got.

"We tend to start quite well ourselves.

"It will be interesting early.

"We are going to play the way we've been playing over the last period of time and back ourselves in but also understanding how good the Bulldogs are."

Harvey said forward Chris Mayne, who has spent the majority of the season on the sidelines nursing stress fractures in his foot, was a strong chance to earn a recall despite playing just three games of reserves football in the WAFL.

The 20-year-old played 17 games in his debut season last year in a campaign where he established himself as a vital part of the Dockers' forward set-up.

"I think everyone's forgotten about Mayne," Harvey said.

"I thought he had as much impact, or wasn't far behind Rhys (Palmer) last year in what we were looking for.

"We think he's going to be a really good player long-term for us.

"He hasn't done a lot of running but having said that he's played three games."

Veteran Des Headland has recovered from his hamstring complaint and is a certainty to take on the Bulldogs, but midfielder Byron Schammer (calf) and swingman Luke McPharlin (calf) will miss another week.

Brett Peake, who rolled his ankle in last week's western derby win over West Coast, is only rated a 50-50 chance to take on the Dogs while Tim Ruffles will spend up to 12 months on the sidelines after scans revealed he needed a full knee reconstruction.

The Bulldogs have been rocked by injuries to key players, with Shaun Higgins (hamstring), Robert Murphy (hamstring) and Scott Welsh (ankle) all ruled out of action this week.

"They've got three of their top 10 players out of their side," Harvey pointed out.

"On the back of winning against West Coast our confidence is enormous ... and we take that into this game."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP