Williamstown’s clash against Collingwood on Sunday will start and end at the contest, Western Bulldogs Development Coach Peter German says.

The Seagulls fight and desperation at the clearances will determine whether their time is spent setting up their attack or chasing down a classy Collingwood outfit, who boast plenty of outside talent.

“They are going to have some really quality players, and clearances will be really important,” German said.

“[Our strength] is always is our contested football, if we get our numbers around there, that is the start and the finish of it.

“If we win those areas that can helps get up our attack but if we don’t we really have to try to defend their ability to use their running type, creative players that can do damage on the outside.”

Every win for Williamstown is pivotal if they want to maintain their standing in the top four, with a game against ladder leaders Geelong in a fortnight.

 “They next four weeks are all the same, quality opposition and Collingwood are going to have a lot of star players - they’ve got some really good VFL players as well,” he said.

“One poor quarter could prove the difference between making the top four or not but we’ve made sure that as a group we are focused on the process rather than the outcome.

“If we start thinking too much about the end result, we will forget about the team we are about to play.”

Williamstown are coming off a 36 point win over Frankston last Saturday, while Collingwood have won three of their last five and are at risk of dropping out of the eight if their form line does not improve.