Western Bulldogs captain Brad Johnson is expected to sit out Sunday's AFL clash with Hawthorn as he continues to be laid low by a virus.

The 33-year-old forward missed last Sunday's win over Richmond and coach Rodney Eade said he was vomiting and had a high fever that night.

He stayed away from the club's training session on Wednesday and Eade said while Johnson's health was improving, the club was unlikely to risk him on Sunday.

"The fact that he's missed now nine days, hasn't had a run because of the virus, I think it's probably better to give him a week's training," Eade said.

He said Johnson would probably train on Friday, but needed to rebuild his fitness before playing.

Johnson was sidelined by a calf/Achilles injury throughout the pre-season, with his only game so far this year the round one loss to Collingwood, his 350th.

Fellow veteran Nathan Eagleton is set to spend another week in the VFL as he recovers form and fitness after a pre-season hamstring injury.

While the Hawks have been hit by suspension and injury arising from Monday's bruising clash with Geelong, Eade said he did not feel it was a good time to play them.

He said the Hawks had showed their hallmark combativeness was at a high.

"I'm probably more worried about that than if they played a lacklustre game," he said.

"... The fact that it was full intensity, that's what you'd expect from them this week, so that's what we're thinking.

"It probably needs to heighten our awareness of what it's going to be like this week."

The Bulldogs hope to gain an edge in the ruck, where Hawthorn injuries mean youngster Brent Renouf is again set to take on two opponents - Ben Hudson and Will Minson - singlehandedly.

Despite solid efforts, Renouf has been worn down late in each of the first two rounds, contributing to the Hawks being heavily outscored in the final minutes of both.

"Obviously he was fatigued in the end, but that was certainly no fault of his," Eade said.

"I think they'll probably give him some more help this week, whether (Jarryd) Roughead does a bit more or whether (Luke) Hodge and these sort of players, but I thought the kid battled on pretty manfully.

"Hopefully we can get an advantage, but that's like every week we go in, we know we've got two very good ruckmen and we hope we can get an advantage there every week."

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