Changes are coming for the wounded Western Bulldogs ahead of their AFL clash with Sydney - and they may include the loss of important fullback Brian Lake.

The Bulldogs flew to Sydney on Wednesday unsure if Lake would overcome a hip injury in time to play the Swans.

He could be one of up to five changes from the side sliced and diced by a rampant Geelong by 101 points last weekend.

Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade confirmed gun midfielder Adam Cooney, ruckman Ben Hudson, defender Jarrod Harbrow and young forward Jarrad Grant would all be rushed into the side for Saturday night's clash with the Swans at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Cooney, Hudson and Harbrow have all recovered from a virus which decimated the club's playing stocks over the past fortnight, while Grant has overcome injury.

Eade has also flagged the prospect of bringing back veteran forward Mitch Hahn after a stint in the reserves.

But while Shaun Higgins (calf) and Easton Wood (hamstring) are definitely out, uncertainty surrounds Lake after he failed to train with his teammates at Melbourne's Whitten Oval prior to the team flying to Sydney.

"He's probably only 50-50 at this stage - he did it in the warm-up on Saturday night and struggled through the game," Eade said.

"We're not too sure if he'll be playing.

"We've got some decisions to make, so there's still a bit of conjecture about who will miss."

Eade said he would give Lake - one of his side's best this season - until the night before the match to recover before making a final decision on whether he would play.

Of those hit by the club's virus, only forward Barry Hall is suffering any after-effects, but is expected to play against his old club.

The Dogs were given a tough two-hour session prior to their departure - Eade keen to give his players a primer of the contested style the Swans are famous for.

"It's a lot about who we're playing this week and the style of game," Eade said.

"On a small ground there's going to be a lot of stoppages and a lot of contested work so we need to ramp that up again.

"As you could see by the training today, that's the sort of work we needed to do."

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