Canterbury skipper Andrew Ryan is confident his struggling side has the necessary depth to overcome anticipated Origin commitments and dig the club out of its early season hole.

The Bulldogs have just three wins to their name after the opening ten rounds of the competition after slumping to a 19-6 loss to St George Illawarra on Friday night, and have a gruelling schedule with three of their next four games against sides in the top eight and the other against salary cap stricken Melbourne.

Adding to the difficulty the club faces in attempting to claw its way back into the top eight is the fact they are expected to be without at least Brett Kimmorley and Michael Ennis for some of the run due to Origin commitments, while the likes of Josh Morris and Jamal Idris are also in contention for a NSW call-up.

"I assume we might lose a couple but we just need to keep working hard," Ryan said.

"The good thing about the club is we have depth in those key areas. We are going to be tested but it's good for us." While disappointed with his side's execution against the Dragons, Bulldogs coach Kevin Moore wasn't totally dissatisfied with the performance as his side took it to the premiership favourites, particularly over the opening quarter of the match.

The fact they weren't unable to make more of an impact on the scoreboard from their early dominance ultimately cost the home side.

"The stuff that we learned from an attacking point of view - we threw plenty at them, I think St George would concede that they were under the pump a number of times ... I think we're on the right track as far as our football is concerned and the fact that we tried to move the footy around and promote some second phase football," Moore said.

"I thought we looked really dangerous at times but when you haven't been doing it well it sometimes takes a bit of luck to get it right.

"When we get those opportunities we've got to take them.

"If we give ourselves the same platform moving the footy around a bit and our execution is better, we're going to put on enough points to win a game of footy."

While expected to lose their key playmaking duo to the Blues, the Bulldogs should welcome back five-eighth Ben Roberts from an ankle injury for Monday night's clash against the Panthers.

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