The Western Bulldogs are set to make up to four changes for Sunday's AFL blockbuster against Collingwood at the MCG, with coach Rodney Eade admitting Monday's seven-point loss to Fremantle took its toll on his player group.

Although the Bulldogs didn't suffer any acute injuries from the match, Eade said the bruising encounter would result in several players missing the Magpies encounter due to the short turnaround.

Tom Williams suffered back spasms at half-time and is the player most in doubt to face the 'Pies, while forward Barry Hall might be in the same boat after a less than fluent display against the Dockers.

Hall's goalless outing from just five possessions even left Fremantle coach Mark Harvey questioning whether the former Swan was injury free, but Eade said he would use the coming days to assess his squad before making any final decisions.

"I reckon we'll probably have at least three or four changes out of the team tonight ... a few players are a bit sore," Eade said.

"That (six-day break) is always going to be difficult.

"We've got to recover well.

"They (Collingwood) have only got a six-day break too, so there's no excuses."

Despite the Dogs slumping to their second loss from four matches, Eade said he saw enough signs to suggest his team were on the right track.

The Bulldogs led by seven points with just minutes remaining on the clock, but a fast-finishing Fremantle slammed on the final two goals of the match to steal the 12.13 (85) to 11.12 (78) win.

"I think there's a lot of positives out of it. I was proud of their commitment and their courage, and as a coach that's all you can ask," Eade said.

"We made some mistakes but our structures were good.

"If we can show that effort and that energy and commitment we are going to win more games than we lose."

Bulldogs skipper Matthew Boyd played a blinder, tallying 45 possessions, 12 clearances, 10 inside 50s and seven tackles to be the standoutperformer on the night.

"I think he played a great skipper's game," Eade said.

"He obviously led from the front.

"(Matthew) Pavlich was getting on top early and he went onto him ... and (he was able) to quell his dominance to a degree and ... win the ball himself."

Unbeaten Collingwood, who overcame a plucky Essendon on Monday by 30 points, will start hot favourites against the Dogs, having beaten Eade's men in the past three encounters by an average of 36 points.

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