THE Western Bulldogs playing group won't let the events of last weekend distract them ahead of Friday night's clash against Geelong, according to Jordan Roughead.

While the upset loss to St Kilda saw them tumble from the top-four, it was the season-ending injuries to midfielder Mitch Wallis and forward Jack Redpath that rocked the Bulldogs.

However, Roughead believes the club's recent history of overcoming adversity will see them run out with a strong mindset against the Cats.

"We've got a solid belief we can deal with injuries because we've had to deal with them all year and there's no reason why we can't do it again," Roughead told AFL.com.au.

"When 'Murph' (Robert Murphy) went down – our leader – it could have been hard to bounce back from, but we were able to do so.

"Saturday night was a pretty shocking result for us. Not just the loss, but also the injuries we sustained.

"But we've bounced back pretty well, and we'll come out firing this week and for the rest of the year."

Sitting seventh, the Dogs will need to arrest a nine-game losing streak against Geelong if they want jump back into the top-four.

With 105 senior games to his name, Roughead is yet to play in a winning side against the Cats, and he's under no illusion how hard it will be for the Dogs to break the feline hoodoo and get their season back on track.

"'Bevo' (Luke Beveridge) did touch on (our poor record against the Cats), but we'll work on a plan that will hopefully give us a chance of getting the four points," Roughead said.

"But that's what we play footy for, to win games and be there at the pointy end of the season."

Out of all the challenges the Bulldogs' players will meet on Friday night, the ruckman's assignment looms as one of the toughest.

He and Tom Boyd will be opposed to the three-pronged attack of Zac Smith, Rhys Stanley and Mark Blicavs, and Roughead is hoping to use the challenging situation to grow a combination with his young sidekick that stalled against the Saints.

"It didn't turn out to be the partnership Tom and I wanted in the end because when Dale (Morris) went off in the second half (injured), I ended up playing in the backline," he said.

"We didn't end up rotating between forward and the ruck, but hopefully this week we can and we'll be able to have an impact."