WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade believes his players can shake off the cautious approach they are currently employing in the second half of the season.

Eade said the Dogs were too conservative against Collingwood - and Essendon last week - and it was costing them dearly.

"All year, we haven't played great footy consistently and most of that's been due to making errors and our skill level hasn't been up to what we expect," he said, after the 10-point loss.

"I really noticed tonight, more than last week, a cautious approach.

"We've got to play the way we normally play and be able take teams on and if we lose, we lose.

"To lose in a conservative fashion … you're trying not to lose rather than trying to win."

He said his players' fear of making repeated mistakes caused them to surrender a 48-point lead to the Pies in the first three terms.

"We're building our game on being able to persevere and persist, even if we do make mistakes, to keep trying and going back to the well," he said.

"We've been reinforcing it with the guys. In the end, the guys throw caution to the wind.

"It's the way we play. We play a risk-taking game at times but playing conservative hurt us early."

Eade said the Bulldogs would look into the injury sustained by Shaun Higgins to see if claims it was caused by Etihad Stadium's surface were substantiated.

Higgins rolled the ankle in the forward pocket of the Coventry end of the ground in the second quarter.

He played out the third term but missed the last after having blood drained from the joint.

Eade said Higgins would definitely miss the next two weeks and could be out for as many as six.

"I haven't seen the footage. I assumed someone fell across him," Eade said.

"The worst case scenario is the ligament Liam Picken did, who got back in five."

Eade said the Dogs could receive a boost for their crucial clash with the Brisbane Lions with Brad Johnson and Robert Murphy a chance to return from injury.