Bombers coach Matthew Knights said on Tuesday he is expecting to have just 24 players to pick from this week after a spate of injuries hit the side last weekend against Adelaide.
However, as Malthouse did ahead of the round 17 clash between Collingwood and Essendon, Eade has questioned whether the Bombers really are set to field a skeleton of a side.
"They were supposed to be like that against Collingwood and they won by seven goals," Eade told westernbulldogs.com.au on Wednesday night.
"When you look at the team they're going to put together, [Mark] McVeigh, [Matthew] Lloyd, [Andrew] Lovett, [Paddy] Ryder … they're probably only going to be missing six or seven from their best 22.
"It's not like they're missing their best 22, and as I said before, they did that against Collingwood and ended up winning."
Should the Bulldogs win this week, they'll claim just their second victory in six weeks. But a win is sure to be overshadowed by the fact the Bombers were forced to play a side minus those several key players.
However, Eade said he'll happily take the four points regardless of the situation, as long as the Dogs play with more purpose – for longer – than they have in recent times.
"A win is a win, but it will be more about the way we go about it and the way we play," he said.
"It's like the losses. People want to talk about doom and gloom, but the way we went about the Brisbane game was pleasing.
"We attacked it, we were on top for most of the night, we played some good footy – we just couldn't convert.
"That hurt us at the end when they got their confidence up a bit, so it's like you can win and win badly. It's more about the way we're going to go about it.
"I think the win would be important for us to regain some momentum, and to cement some belief.
"The players have still got plenty of belief and confidence in what they can achieve and the way they can go about it, but certainly to win after what's happened over the last five weeks would be pretty important for us."
Eade said young forward Shaun Higgins is close to gaining a senior recall, after overcoming a brief injury hurdle during the four games he's recently played in the VFL.
"It hurt him a little bit when he missed that game the previous week, and got injured the game before that and only played one and a half quarters," he said.
"He's nearly missed two games, so hopefully he'll just need the other one.
"If anything, it's going to depend on the form and fitness of players in the team as well. We're not going to put him straight in for the sake of putting him in if people are playing OK in the seniors.
"It's going to be depending on opportunity, so hopefully he can play well this week and really push his case over the next couple of weeks."
