Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says tomorrow night’s clash against Richmond is a must-win.

Beveridge confirmed Liam Jones’ return to the side in a boost to the Dogs’ defensive pillars, as Josh Bruce undergoes surgery on his second ACL reconstruction in as many years.

“Liam will come back into the team - there’ll be another couple of changes,” Beveridge told media at his weekly press conference.

“We’ve got a Captains Run this morning and will finalise our team after that, and make some announcements with the official (team release) this afternoon.

“Josh goes into surgery today. It’s pretty traumatic for him – the important thing for him this time around is that it was kind of a lonely rehab period the first time during the pandemic times with his other knee, so at least he’s got both sides of the family (around).

“We’ll support him out the other side.”

Beveridge said the group is remaining positive ahead of tomorrow night, and will take aspects from the round four win into this meeting.

“We’ll put out a team – as we do every week - that we believe can beat Richmond,” he said.

“What we loved about that game in the end was that we were able to stabilize, and then come again and win it.

“It was good signs for us in round four – we hadn’t beaten Richmond very much prior to that in the previous couple of years.

“It was a good sign that the core ingredients were there – but it was another example of just being a bit vulnerable to patches where some sides can get a run on.

“For us, it’s just being so close to nearly every side that has flipped us in recent times.

“The frustration is there for our supporters, we get that. I know the application and the endeavour is there. We just believe we can find that growth, whatever stage of the year we’re in.

“It’s another opportunity to seek it out tomorrow night.”

The Dogs-Tigers will go head-to-head in Retro Round from 7.50pm at Marvel Stadium tomorrow night.