The Western Bulldogs' injury concerns have intensified, with rising ruck star Jordan Roughead ruled out of Saturday night's AFL qualifying final against Collingwood.

The in-form Roughead has been sidelined by a shoulder injury.

His absence, which may stretch to two weeks, is likely to mean a recall for Will Minson.

But coach Rodney Eade has stopped well short of declaring Minson a certain starter to provide ruck back-up for Ben Hudson.

Several important Bulldogs players are in doubt for the match, including captain Brad Johnson and midfielder Ryan Griffen.

Eade on Tuesday rated the pair 50-50 chances to line up against the Magpies.

Johnson is suffering from an Achilles problem which that kept him out of last weekend's final home and away clash against Essendon.

Griffen came away from the game with a damaged knee but remains a strong chance to play.

Another player who has been under a cloud, midfielder Shaun Higgins, is likely to be back after being sidelined with a calf injury and a bout of thyroiditis.

"He's almost certain. He's available, there's no doubt about that.

"He played well on the weekend (in the VFL) and he pulled up well, now it's just up to selection on whether we pick him but I would think he'd play," Eade said.

Defender Brian Lake was described as "okay."

"He's been carrying a bit of a hip (injury). Obviously you can tell by the way he's played the last couple of weeks," Eade said.

"But that's a little bit better and he's pulled up reasonably well from the game so he should be fine."

Eade said he would not select any player for this weekend's game unless he was fully fit, saying the practice of gambling with players under a cloud is disastrous.

"In a big final every team's done that at some stage and I've certainly been involved with teams who have done that and generally it doesn't work," he said.

"We need players who are 100 per cent and can play a full game."

Midfielder Matthew Boyd said that, while the club have a double chance, they are desperate to win Saturday night's match to snare an extra week's recovery time.

"You finish fourth for a reason," Boyd said. "We've had a pretty good year apart from a couple of weeks and we've earned that second chance.

"In saying that, you don't really want to use it, you want to win and go straight through to the preliminary final."

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