Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has signalled captain Marcus Bontempell should be right to play on Saturday against Fremantle despite a week away from training due to illness.
Bontempelli hasn't trained with teammates this week, with Friday's light session at Whitten Oval set to be his sole training block ahead of an enticing meeting with the Dockers at Marvel Stadium.
The five-time best and fairest winner battled with a similar ailment ahead of the club's Round 12 against Collingwood, with Bontempelli shaking off any lingering symptoms to put forward one of the best individual performances of the season.
Speaking to media on Friday, Beveridge said it would "take something pretty significant" to keep the premiership midfielder out of his side.
"He has been ill," the Dogs coach confirmed of his skipper.
"He was crook a couple of weeks ago too, that was before the Collingwood game. He was pretty crook that week and came out and played a significantly influential game.
"He hasn't trained with the group this week. He comes in today and he'll hardly do anything at our captain's run.
"He's had a different preparation. As you can understand with him, it'll take something pretty significant to stop him from playing. Hopefully he's not affected by it too much."
The Dogs confirmed three changes for Round 14, with Cody Weightman and Ed Richards returning from injury while Anthony Scott earned a reprieve after a week in the VFL.
Making way is defender Alex Keath, who suffered a hamstring strain in last week's loss to Brisbane, while duo Riley Garcia and Lachie McNeil have been dropped from the side.
Garcia could be considered hard done by given his rise in form over the past month; however, his coach believes there are aspects of his game to work on at training and at the lower level before he returns to the senior team.
"The game is about so much more than the quantities. It's the qualities and aspects of team defence and what you're going at different stages when you're not directly involved in the game," Beveridge said.
"There's some things we're working through with 'Sunny', and in that there were reasons why he wasn't selected this week.
"He'll go to work on them with Footscray and hopefully for him he plays really well and then it's not too long before we see him again."
Second-year defender Jedd Busslinger was considered to replace Keath on Beveridge's last line after a strong year to date in the VFL, but the former first-round pick fell just short and was named an emergency.
Beveridge expressed his pleasure in the 20-year-old's form for Footscray, noting the Fremantle matchup "isn't the week" to deploy the key backman, whose debut isn't far away.
"He's tracking in the right direction. We're starting to consider him and the opportunity might be there for him (soon)," Beveridge added.
"It's like his first year. He came to us last year off a shoulder reconstruction, he's put a lot of time in the gym, he's stronger and his performances this year have been solid. Statistically, he gets a fair bit of the ball for us.
"It's really promising for him and for us, we want to set him up to succeed. This isn't the week but he'll get his chance."
Beveridge confirmed that ruck-forward Rory Lobb will play against his former side after overcoming an ankle issue sustained in Round 13.
Lobb will combine with All-Australian Tim English in a crucial ruck battle against formidable Fremantle pair Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson, while young tall Sam Darcy could be utilised as a second support option for the Dogs.
English, a restricted free agent, is currently weighing up his future and is without a deal for next season, with Beveridge hopeful the Western Australian will remain at the Kennel for the long haul.
"I try and stay out of that area, as far as negotiations go," the Dogs coach said.
"My role in that is to make sure things are normalised as much as possible around the coach-payer relationship. His manager and (list boss) Sam (Power) here are talking in the background.
"Hopefully Tim is a really long-term player for the club."
The Bulldogs host Fremantle at Marvel Stadium on Saturday at 1:45pm (AEST).
