WESTERN Bulldogs captain Matthew Boyd says his team will approach every remaining match as if it is preparing for a finals berth.

The 28-year-old says the Dogs will not simply turn up for the remaining four home-and-away games despite the increasing likelihood they will miss the finals for the first time since 2007.

The first-year skipper was left gutted after his team failed to close out Saturday's clash with West Coast at Etihad Stadium despite hitting the front late in the fourth quarter after trailing by 50 points in the third.

But he said that was no excuse to write off the rest of the year, even though the Dogs required close to a miracle to play on after round 24.

"We're not going to lay down," he told afl.com.au after the game.

"Where there's light, there's hope. There's still light. It might be wavering at the moment but there is that possibility.

"Even then, it's not about that. It's about us improving and getting better."

For the past three years, this stage of the season for the Dogs has been about making sure the players are ready for September.

A top-four finish had been all but confirmed, the weather is starting to improve, and they are trying hard not to look beyond the remaining home-and-away games to that all-important first final.

But it's not like that this year, and Boyd admits it is hard to consider his end-of-season holiday might be just five weeks away.

However, he says that makes it all the more important for the team to stick together over the next month and a bit.

"Now, really, the key is just to hang in there," he said.

"Hopefully things might go our way, you never know. I think it's still mathematically possible, and until it's impossible, we'll still have faith and we'll still have belief.

"I think the key to the next five weeks is make sure we keep improving, and get things in order and right."

Boyd's first year as captain hasn't gone to plan. Injuries to key personnel - and a nasty mid-season slump that saw them drop seven out of eight games between rounds five and 12 - have hampered the Dogs' determination to go beyond the preliminary final mark they've reached the past three years.

"We're a proud group and things just haven't gone our way," he said.

"We've had injuries and eight changes this week, and we've still come out and been pretty competitive against what I think is a top-four side.

"I think they'll be top-four by the end of the year and they'll go deep into the finals.

"It just shows we've still got the talent and we're still a good side; we've just got to do it consistently and that's the challenge for us now."

He said the Dogs' start, the first "10 to 15 minutes" of Saturday's game, was what cost them, and it was shattering to realise how different things could have been had they just entered the arena with a higher level of intensity.

Boyd himself was the team's best. He won't admit it, but his 40-possession, 11-clearance game had him atop the list.

"He's had a very good year as a leader and at times, he might try too hard," coach Rodney Eade said.

"He tries to inspire the side and win the ball, and at times lets his man out to first access of the ball at times in the past.

"But I thought today he was terrific and he and [Robert] Murphy were really good as leaders."

Boyd said he couldn't go home pleased with his efforts when the ultimate goal - the win, and that step closer to finals - was missed.

"It's never nice to lose. I don't even think about my game. It's just so disappointing we couldn't get over the line after a pretty good effort to come back," he said.

"Personal performances … they don't mean anything if you don't win.

"There were some good performances from guys and there were some down performances from guys.

"But we're a team, and we live and die by our results and that's just how it is."

Jennifer Witham covers Western Bulldogs' news for afl.com.au. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.