WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade has refuted suggestions that the 2008 Dogs are following a similar path to last season's campaign when they lost six out of their last seven matches.

Eade was speaking on SEN radio about his side's consecutive losses to Geelong and Carlton.

"Last year was completely different because of the lack of pre-season for six or seven of our guys," he said.

"We had four or five players out in the last six or seven games and it obviously caught up with us. We've probably got three or four to come back over the next few weeks."

However Eade did admit that some Bulldogs have lost form of late, including Jason Akermanis.

"A few of our players have gone off the boil. I don't think he's the lone ranger," Eade said of the enigmatic forward

"Since the bye he kicked three against Melbourne but his last few games have been down and he's struggling with that. But he's a good player. Good players bounce back and he'll bounce back."

As for the Dogs' collapse against the Blues, which saw them relinquish a 37-point lead to lose by 28 points, Eade admitted there were things he would have done differently if he had the chance.

"Probably in hindsight we could have put some numbers back in front of Fev (Brendan Fevola)," he said. The spearhead's three last-quarter goals were critical in the Carlton win.

Tom Williams was a late withdrawal for the clash with the Blues due to a shoulder injury but Eade said that he would play for Williamstown at the weekend.

"A bit like Tadhg Kennelly and Porplyzia, it (the shoulder) just shifted a bit," Eade said.

"It happened on Friday at training just doing some tackling. At that stage we ruled him out but on the Saturday he was okay, and we could have put him back in but we didn't take that chance.

"He'll play at Williamstown this week. At least if his shoulder does move again, he can get used to that."