WESTERN Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney anticipates a backlash from supporters following another heavy defeat - this time to premiership aspirant Essendon by 84 points - but remains steadfast in his belief he has the club on the right path.

The Bulldogs have lost three of their past four games by an average of 78 points (the other landslide losses were to the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions) and McCartney admits being "filthy" about it. But he rejected a suggestion the club's brand had been damaged by recent performances and is adamant his players are being taught the "right way to play the game."

Watch Brendan McCartney's post match press conference on the media player above.

"There might be some external panic with this [but] there's none internal," McCartney said. "We're filthy with how we're playing, though. We're really disappointed in what we're dishing up.

"We're teaching the right way to play the game. We're teaching the contest, we're teaching people to think about defending earlier to make it hard for the opposition, and we're also coaching people to be smarter with the ball."

Compounding matters for the Dogs, star defender Bob Murphy is likely to be sidelined after suffering hamstring tightness. The Bulldogs will await the result of scans.

Watch midfielder Shaun Higgins speak to BulldogsTV post match.

"They don't usually limp off and have ice on it and play the next week, I know that," McCartney lamented about Murphy's injury.

In better news, McCartney said midfield gun Ryan Griffen, who received a knock to the calf, would be "OK" to take on Fremantle in Perth next Sunday.

McCartney also foreshadowed the return of young trio Mitch Wallis, Ayce Cordy and Mark Austin, clarifying that each had been rested rather than omitted for the Bombers clash.

Read the match report and watch BulldogsTV highlights.

The Dogs coach said the Bombers' fierce approach had made his team reactive early, but was satisfied with their intensity in the second and third terms before they fell away again in the final term, which McCartney described as "the smelliest bit of the day".

"At the moment you'd be watching us thinking, 'that's not what we're seeing'. So we've just got to keep at it on the training track, keep educating people, demanding standards [and] effort, [and] rewarding people who give us that and put people out of the team perhaps who don't.

"Don't get me wrong, we're going to keep working with them and build belief, [and] respect their self-esteem and their dignity because that's what you have to maintain in this game."