WESTERN Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade is not concerned that his free-scoring team is suddenly faced with diminishing output.

The Bulldogs are the highest-scoring team in the AFL, but they have dried up somewhat in recent games. After not being held to under 100 points for the first 12 rounds, they have passed that mark only once in their past four games.

The time-worn refrain about the Dogs' lack of tall marking forwards also came up in the wake of their 61-point loss to Geelong last weekend, a game that also had them being held to a season-low 70 points. Taking the latter point first, Eade said he had to work with what he had.

"We haven't got a Jonathan Brown; we haven't got a Matthew Pavlich," Eade said at Whitten Oval yesterday. "If someone wants to give us one, fantastic, but we've got to work with what we've got. I'm comfortable with where we are. We're still the highest-scoring side in the competition. So we had one bad day. I'm still fairly confident with the outcome."

As to the scoring output, Eade said: "That's not a concern. At this stage, there's other areas we can look at that can improve that."

One of those may be intensity, Eade saying the lack of it meant the Bulldogs could not pull themselves out of a situation in which the game was "loseable" against Geelong as they had been able to in other games this season.

Faced with Carlton on Sunday evening, Eade said that as impressive as the Blues had been in recent weeks it was more a matter of the Bulldogs getting back to their best game.

"I think we've got to get back on the horse with what our strengths have been this year. We've got to win the stoppages, win the midfield and win the contested ball, but that's the same every week, and that's the focus again," he said.

He said he had been impressed with the way his players responded to the Geelong loss in the review process.

"It's a very honest group and I thought they were probably more disappointed than anybody after the game," Eade said. "You can tell that. They weren't flat but they were certainly down and disappointed in their own efforts."

He said the players were particularly upset with the lack of intensity they showed after half-time, and would look to restore their consistent work rate against Carlton.

Eade said it was an option to rest Brad Johnson, but he doubted it would be this weekend. The veteran Bulldog skipper injured his ankle on Saturday and spent time off the field. He faces a fitness test this week.

Tall defender Tom Williams trained yesterday and should return from a shoulder injury this week, but Scott West remains a couple of weeks away from resuming after knee tendonitis. Eade said the club was expecting a return in round 18 or 19 for the veteran.