THE WESTERN Bulldogs will make at least three changes to their side this week with Scott Welsh the latest to join the casualty list.

Welsh has been troubled by an ankle injury for the past few weeks and has already been ruled out of Saturday's clash with Fremantle by coach Rodney Eade.

The former Adelaide forward will join Shaun Higgins and Robert Murphy on the sidelines after the pair picked up hamstring injuries in Saturday night's loss to St Kilda.

Lindsay Gilbee will return after withdrawing from the side last week for personal reasons. Eade said there were a handful of players who could fill the other two spots.

"It will give another couple of guys some opportunities," Eade said on Wednesday.

"Brennan Stack, Andrejs Everitt, Tim Callan, Guy O'Keefe and Wayde Skipper … those sorts of guys will be in the mix.

"Jarrad Grant will be in the mix too. He was very disappointing on the weekend, which was unfortunate, but his form three weeks ago was okay for Willy.

"Brennan has been in good form. He was very good in the first half last week. He dropped away a bit in the second half but his first half was good and he's been reasonably consistent."

Eade said the Dogs were likely to be without Higgins until round 21, and Murphy until round 19.

"Higgins had a scan and we're hoping two, but it could maybe be three," Eade said.

"Robert looks more likely one, but maybe two. If you're looking at percentages, Higgins is 60-40 to be a three-weeker, and Murphy is probably 60-40 to be a one-weeker.

"[Murphy's] is not the same hamstring and it's not in the same spot; it's down low. He hasn't done any damage to the muscle, so that's why we're positive it might only be the one week."

Eade said the players had recovered psychologically from their 45-point loss to St Kilda on Saturday night, and were determined to atone against Fremantle this weekend.

"They seem to be okay, and you can tell with our players and their body language and the way they present themselves, where their mental state is at," he said.

"It seems to be pretty good. There weren't many positives to come out of the game, but there are certainly slants you can take out of it, and the players are okay.

"We need to get back now and win, this is a game we've got to win and we should win, so now we've got make sure we do that.

"As a professional side and a professional unit, we've got to bounce back."