Luke Beveridge has thrown down the challenge to his Western Bulldogs to string consecutive wins together for the first time this season.

The Bulldogs will host the improving Gold Coast at Ballarat's Mars Stadium on Saturday as they seek to build on last week's thumping of Collingwood.

The form of last year's grand finalists has been patchy, having gone win-loss since opening the season with two-straight defeats, but Beveridge is hoping for some consistency now the Bulldogs' defence is regaining some size.

Alex Keath was welcomed back for the clash with the Magpies and he will be joined in the back-six to take on the Suns by former Hawthorn tall Tim O'Brien.

Ruckman Tim English is expected to return for next week's game against West Coast after struggling with a severe flu.

Premiership players Taylor Duryea and Jason Johannisen have also been struck down by illness.

"We haven’t had any momentum beyond one week and that in many ways has been a bit disconcerting," the Bulldogs coach said on Friday.

"We’re not overly happy that our form line has been spasmodic. 

"That’s our intention to start to pile the wins on top of each other and who knows where that might head.

"This week for the first time in a long while we're able to pick pretty much three key defenders when you consider O'Brien, Alex Keath and Ryan Gardner."

Both teams head to central Victoria with a 4-5 record with the Suns coming off  memorable wins against Sydney and Fremantle.

The Bulldogs will celebrate Adam Treloar's 200th game as the midfielder becomes the first player from GWS' inaugural crop of teenagers back in 2012 to reach the milestone.

"When you try and compare all those guys in their impact on the game, he compares extremely favourably to have started with GWS," Beveridge said.

"He’s given such strong performance sand contributions on and off the field here."