THE WESTERN Bulldogs "dodged a bullet" in their comeback win over an injury-hit Collingwood, coach Luke Beveridge says.
 
Bar for the opening minutes of the game, the Bulldogs trailed Collingwood for the first three quarters at the MCG on Sunday, and were down by 15 points midway through the third term.
 
But with the Pies left without any fit players on their interchange bench early in the final quarter – Alan Toovey (concussion), Alex Fasolo (shoulder), Taylor Adams (hamstring) and Darcy Moore (shoulder) were all sidelined – the Dogs kicked seven of the final eight goals to escape with a 21-point win.
 
Beveridge told reporters after the game he was encouraged by his team's ability to salvage a victory on an off day, but acknowledged the Pies' heavy injury count had helped their cause.
 
"There's no doubt we dodged a bullet. To Collingwood's credit, I think they ended up with just 18 left and they really ground it out. They showed great courage and we were fortunate enough to win," Beveridge said.
 
"I'm always grateful to our players for their efforts, but the way we used the ball there's no doubt some of it was due to Collingwood's pressure, but a lot of it wasn't.
 
"To turn the ball over so often – I think we were 30 (turnovers) at half-time, we're normally 34 for the game – it was only our defensive side of it that really kept our head above water and then just allowed us to come over the top in the end.
 
"Part of that was our players' persistence, but a significant part of it was probably because Collingwood only had 18 players left."
 
Beveridge said the Bulldogs' poor ball use against the Pies, particularly in the first three quarters, had become "a little bit of a theme" for his team.
 
He said injuries to key players such as Robert Murphy, Jason Johannisen and Matt Suckling had affected the Bulldogs in this area, but he stressed they had to become more consistent.
 
"We feel like our consistency in that area of the game hasn't been where we want it to be, and today's another example of that," Beveridge said.
 
"There's no doubt that when you continually change your personnel in certain lines for all different reasons you lack continuity.
 
"We're making progress in areas but we're just not executing it well at all at the moment, so hopefully over time we get that to the level that is required to be one of the best. It's not there yet."
 
Beveridge praised his "defensive seven", saying the ability of players such as Easton Wood, Dale Morris, Marcus Adams and Fletcher Roberts to defend the Bulldogs' turnovers up the ground had helped the Dogs go into three-quarter time just three points down.
 
But the Bulldogs coach described forward Jake Stringer's goalless outing against the Pies as "not one of Jakey's best".
 
Stringer was well held by Ben Reid, with support from his fellow defenders, and Beveridge said the spearhead had to find "different methods and different ways to be at his absolute best".
 
"He's not quite there yet. He'll continue to learn from the ones where he doesn't have his best days and we'll go to school on his game this week and try to help him next week."