Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade hopes the presence of a "rusty" Brad Johnson will give his side the inspiration needed to topple AFL strugglers West Coast at Subiaco Oval on Sunday.

Johnson, a veteran of 352 games, hasn't featured for the Dogs since injuring his Achilles tendon in the round six loss to St Kilda.

But the 33-year-old moved freely at a light training run on Friday and Eade expects the inspirational skipper to play around 70-80 minutes against the Eagles.

"His leadership's fantastic and his energy and the way he goes about things certainly does stir the players up," Eade said in Perth on Friday.

"We are not expecting a lot from him output-wise in terms of playing because he's missed a bit and we think he'll be a bit rusty at times as well, but there's no doubt his leadership will help the team.

"He felt he was right to go because he'd been training for about four weeks and he played last week at Williamstown.

"It was always a balancing act - a chance to play this week and then with the week off it gives him the chance to recover from it versus (the risk of) playing on such a big ground with the condition of his body.

"But we are certainly pleased with his condition at the moment, we think he'll get through OK."

Johnson's inclusion is a massive boost for the Bulldogs, who are just one win adrift of the fourth-placed Dockers after last week's impressive 65-point win over Brisbane.

The Dogs also regained defender Ryan Hargrave from an ankle injury, but Tom Williams will miss with a hamstring complaint and Brodie Moles was dropped.

West Coast's baby-faced squad received an extra dose of youth after Koby Stevens and rookie Andrew Strijk were named for their debuts, while Adam Selwood returns to bolster the midfield.

Brett Jones and Lewis Stevenson were dropped and Mark Nicoski won't feature again this season after re-injuring his shoulder.

West Coast, with just three wins from 12 rounds, are desperate to win following a week of intense speculation surrounding the future of coach John Worsfold and the club's board.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP