Ladder position won’t be a consideration in Sunday’s clash against North Melbourne, with Senior Coach Brendan McCartney confident of his Bulldogs putting up a good fight.

The Bulldogs have established their brand as a contested, defensive team under McCartney, and that will be put to the test against the attacking style of the Kangaroos.

“They are in the top eight and well entrenched and we are outside it,” McCartney said.

“They play really well in certain areas in the game as we do, they are a bit of a contrast to us and the challenge will be to deal with what they do well and still bring out the best elements of our game.”

North Melbourne’s tall marking forwards have been dangerous in 2014, and McCartney is focussing on limiting their opportunities in front of goals on Sunday.

“All forwards rely on good supply so if we leave the midfield open and they are able to kick the ball well [their forwards] will mark it,” he said.

“We will go to work again, have a good session on the track today and work at implementing things we want to be better at and capitalise on our strengths.

“We are looking forward to Sunday, it’s another really good opportunity to apply our craft and push our case forward.”

McCartney said the Bulldogs had benefited from a healthy list this season with a well performing VFL side and there are a number of players in the wings fighting for an opportunity.

“I looked around the room this morning… there’s still a lot of young guys just out of the team or just in the team, who are working overtime to cement their spot or take their opportunity,” he said.

“The healthy competition is making us a really competitive team, we have been for eight or nine weeks – we had a tough day in Tasmania – but apart from that we’ve been really consistent.”