Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade has thrown a comforting word towards embattled West Coast counterpart John Worsfold, but there will be little love between the pair when their respective AFL teams clash at Subiaco Oval on Sunday.

The Eagles' 49-point loss to lowly Richmond last week sparked fresh speculation Worsfold could be replaced by Sydney coach Paul Roos, while the tenure of West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett and chairman Mark Barnaba were also questioned.

Eade, who coached Sydney for six-and-a-half seasons before falling on his sword amid rising pressure, said he sympathised with what Worsfold was going through at the 14th-placed Eagles.

"I think all us coaches at some stage have been through it," Eade said.

"Not many people do (know what coaches go through).

"There's a lot of extra stresses other than the win-loss as well.

"There's a whole different range of areas you get it from.

"Obviously John's a very strong character and I think it (how he deals with the pressure) is all dependant on the support around you.

"So I think from that aspect he'll be OK.

"He's part of the brotherhood."

The fifth-placed Bulldogs lost twice to West Coast last season and Eade was quick to put his players on high alert against an Eagles outfit desperate to avoid collecting their first ever wooden spoon.

"There's no doubt it's a danger game," Eade said.

"It's been proven through history that teams do rebound pretty well.

"I know we've been through it and we've responded and there's no doubt West Coast Eagles will respond, we know that.

"We lost both games last year, we are under no illusions we need to win this game and we know it's going to be a tough struggle.

"The Eagles, even though they were disappointed with last week's game, they only lost by three or four goals here (at Subiaco Oval) against Geelong and they were 15 points up on St Kilda midway through the third quarter (two weeks earlier).

"So they play well here, we know that."

West Coast ruckman Nic Naitanui has been heavily criticised after a quiet past five weeks but Worsfold leapt to the defence of the 20-year-old.

"I was talking to someone yesterday and they asked about Nic Naitanui having a quiet game," Worsfold said.

"And I said 'I'll go and have a go at him for being 19. Why can't you be 23? it's not good enough Nic, find some way to do it'.

"We want Nic playing his absolute best footy for us in the future, not tiring this year and burning out.

"It's all about learning and developing him.

"He might have just cracked 20 games, so it's a pretty good first 20 games what he's achieved for us."

The Bulldogs have been bolstered by the return of skipper Brad Johnson and defender Ryan Hargrave, while the Eagles will field two debutants in Koby Stevens and Andrew Strijk.

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