Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli says he has full confidence in the depth of talent in the group to withstand the challenges of 2021.

The Bulldogs were outplayed by Melbourne last Friday and will be looking to rectify that when they meet Fremantle at Optus Stadium on Sunday.

Having lost experienced players such as Adam Treloar, Josh Dunkley and Easton Wood to injury in recent weeks, the Bulldogs’ group has been tested.

But Bontempelli said dealing with those changes is part of the challenge this season.

“I feel pretty confident in the group that we’ve got, in terms of the depth,” Bontempelli told RSN on Thursday morning.

“We’re down probably in terms of our initial season depth in what we started with  - without Josh, without Adam, who were both playing outstanding football right until the point they got injured.

“I think this is just how the season rolls – you’ve got to be able to deal with the challenges and not having maybe your first selected (player) at different points. That provides opportunity for others.”

Bontempelli highlighted third-year Bulldog Bailey Smith as one who’s picked up added midfield minutes, playing more on the inside against Melbourne to assist clearance king Tom Liberatore.

“Bailey’s been playing a bit more outside, so he can definitely spend a bit more time inside - Tom was probably a little bit down on his previous output (against the Dees), but we all probably were in a sense as well,” the skipper said.

“We probably didn’t have the style and type of game we’ve had in previous weeks, and that’s something you’ve got to be able to deal with in-game and hope you can sort of change the influence in the game.

“I’m not really too concerned - I think we’ve got numbers and we’ve got players who can definitely support Tom on the inside but also on the outside as well.”

The Bulldogs will announce an extended squad of 26 players at 6.20pm tonight, before trimming that down to a team of 22 plus four emergencies tomorrow at 5pm.