WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade has praised the character of his side after its 30-point come-from-behind victory over Adelaide at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

With the Bulldogs trailing by 22 points at quarter-time and having not won a match since round eight against Richmond, Eade said it would have been easy for his players to have lost the contest.

"Full credit to the group and their character; (winning) one game from eight and then being four goals down (at quarter-time), we could easily have had the world cave in. But they didn't, they stuck at it, and that was very pleasing," Eade said after the match.

Poor skills contributed to the early deficit, and Eade said he asked his players to focus on better use of the football in the remaining three quarters.

The win was the Bulldogs’ fourth victory of the year, and despite the tightness of the competition, Eade refused to look at the bigger picture of the finals. The coach said the much-needed win will help to re-instil some of the belief that had been waning in recent weeks.

"Confidence has been chipped away at but I think, exponentially, it will be more than a win," he said.

"I think it will add a lot and it will get the confidence to grow a bit, and if you can jag another one, you get a bit a momentum and more belief."

Eade also praised the contribution of his younger players, saying the likes of Luke Dahlhaus, Ed Barlow and Jayden Schofield had injected energy into the side.

"Our spirit and enthusiasm on the training track as been good. I couldn't have been more pleased with that; we have worked on the things we needed to improve on and they have taken that on board," Eade said.

"It is real credit to the group that they have stuck together."

Brownlow medallist Adam Cooney started as the substitute in his first match back after missing five weeks because of a knee injury. The champion Bulldog entered the contest early in the third quarter but appeared to struggle with the pace of the game.

"He hasn't had a lot of work into him over the last couple of weeks," Eade said of Cooney

"We 'ummed' and 'ahhed', we thought maybe if coming on as a sub, with hopefully no injuries, that the pace of the game comes off a bit and there is a bit of fatigue in some players and he can attack the game for a quarter and half."

Cooney will now be able to do some more fitness work early next week and play a full game against the Gold Coast next Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs will also regain spearhead Barry Hall, who has missed the last two weeks with an ankle injury, for the match against the Suns.

While key defender Brian Lake will play for Williamstown in the VFL this weekend, Eade is hopeful he will return to the side within a week or two.

"It will be a week by week thing with Brian; he is such a good player that we hope we can get him back sooner rather than later," he said.

The Bulldogs will travel to the Gold Coast next Wednesday, with extra training sessions planned to acclimatise to the warmer weather.