Luke Beveridge has confirmed at least three changes to the team that defeated Essendon by 40 points last weekend, with Dale Morris and Will Minson two of six inclusions in the 25-man squad to face the Dockers on Sunday.

Minson has been named in the ruck and Morris in the back pocket, while Matthew Suckling, Koby Stevens, Tom Campbell and Bailey Williams round out an extended interchange.

Easton Wood has been sidelined with an ankle injury, defender Roarke Smith has been omitted, while a corked calf will keep Jordan Roughead out of the team this week.

Roughead is expected to be available for selection in the first week of finals.

With seven of the top eight ladder positions yet to be finalised, assistant coach Rohan Smith said the Bulldogs have plenty on the line this weekend and he expects Ross Lyon’s men to be up for a fight as they farewell club stalwart Matthew Pavlich.

“It’s their their last home game for their home crowd, so they’ll be up and about, “ Smith told westernbulldogs.com.au on Thursday.

“[And] Matty Pavlich is the greatest Fremantle Docker to pull on the jumper for them and they’ll want to send him off the right way.

“The players that are going to play in that game we’ll have real respect for him so it’s definitely something that we’ve got to focus on - getting off to a really good start, and silencing that crowd and putting them on the back foot.”

The last time the two sides met was in round one this season, where the Bulldogs emerged 65-point winners under the roof at Etihad Stadium, and though both sides are expected to look different than they did in April, Smith said it won’t change the Bulldogs’ approach on Sunday.

“We still know they’re really good around the contest, they’re really good around the ball, once the ball hits the ground they’re very good as well, so we focused on that in round one and it’s going to be exactly the same,” he said. 

“Nothing really changes for us week to week…we play the same way, we play our brand of footy and we think that it holds up pretty well in games. 

“So, you won’t see anything different from us, we’re going to go out there and really attack the contest and attack the game."

Western Bulldogs v Fremantle
Sunday, August 28 2016, 2.40pm
Venue: Domain Stadium

In: W Minson; D Morris; M Suckling; K Stevens; T Campbell; B Williams

Out: J Roughead (calf); E Wood (ankle); R Smith (Omitted)