Western Bulldogs head coach Nathan Burke says he expects his side to improve week by week as they look to get their 2022 season on track.

The Bulldogs gave Fremantle a scare in their first make-up match on Tuesday night, but ultimately fell six points short in the 2.7 (19) to 3.7 (25) result.

Burke said despite the outcome, he was proud of the effort his team gave.

“It’s certainly bittersweet - I love the endeavour that they gave and the way that they pushed themselves off a four-day break against what I’d call close to the best team in the league,” Burke told media post-match.

“I was so proud of them. The first quarter was great, going against the wind – we just wanted to set the scene as to how we wanted to play.

“We sort of made hard work of it (in the end), and probably two weeks in a row shot ourselves in the foot with being inaccurate.”

Burke was full of praise for the backline, led by Eleanor Brown (15 disposals) and Katie Lynch (11 disposals, four marks), and commended ruck Celine Moody (11 disposals, 18 hit-outs).

The Bulldogs will have another opportunity to notch up their first win of 2022 when they host Richmond on Sunday afternoon, which will also be celebrated as part of Pride Round.

Burke said he was taking a glass half-full approach to the rest of the season.

“There’s still 70% of our season to go – that’s enough time to make a mark,” he said.

“We had that big lay-off between rounds one and two, this was better than last week, and so my full expectation is that every week we’ll be better than the last as we move through.

“We do have a long way to improve, but that’s my expectation.”