Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade wants the club's round 22 clash with Collingwood moved to an earlier day.

The AFL has floated the idea of rescheduling the game, which is currently fixtured for the Sunday twilight slot, the final match of the home and away season.

With both clubs certain finalists and top four contenders, Eade says it would be unacceptable if one of them was made to play on a Sunday then in a final the following Friday night.

"Certainly from our point of view, we'd love to play (against Collingwood) on a Friday or Saturday," Eade said.

"I think (the AFL's) concern would be the concern of Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs, which is that if we went into a finals series and had a five-day break it's not acceptable.

"You wouldn't be able to play a final on a five-day break.

"But if we played the Sunday and had a six-day break the next week that's okay, so it will be interesting to see how it pans out."

Eade said the Bulldogs would much prefer to play a day or two earlier to get longer to prepare for the finals.

"But having said that, if we play the Sunday, we play the Sunday," he said.

Meanwhile, Eade said the club had not been able to afford to have a big increase in training load in the lead-up to this year's finals series, as it did last season.

While the Bulldogs had a top three spot sewn up heading into the late rounds of 2008, Eade said they needed to ensure they were at their best each week this year to wrap up a top four berth.

After playing West Coast on Saturday, they have a tough final three rounds, with matches against Brisbane at the Gabba, Geelong and the Magpies.

"We need to win a minimum of two, probably three of the next four, so we've got a tough road and that's been our thoughts," he said.

"We're not really worried about September as such, we're worried about the next few weeks starting with this week."

Eade said forwards Robert Murphy (hamstring) and Scott Welsh (ankle) would again be sidelined for the Eagles clash.

But the club should hit full strength by finals time.

Eade said Shaun Higgins (hamstring) should return for the round 21 meeting with Geelong, if not a week earlier, while Daniel Giansiracusa (knee) is expected to return through the VFL in round 21.

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