But midfielder Matthew Boyd had whispered that he was, Beveridge later found out.

The coach insisted the team had still to earn the right to play at the pointy end of the season, but admitted dreams of finals would loom at the club, which last won a VFL/AFL grand final in 1954.

"It's just there isn't it, it's just there," he said.

There was a palpable sense of excitement around the Bulldogs as they tried to firm up a spot in the top eight and push into the top four.

Beveridge's players had been buoyed by their recent form and supporters were clearly feeling good about the team's prospects.

That was clear to the coach at a recent function in Mulgrave for supporters living on the other side of town.

"Just the looks on the supporters faces, and some of the members, everyone's up and about," he said.

The Bulldogs will take an unchanged team into their game against Essendon on Sunday afternoon after beating Collingwood by 18 points.

Now sitting in sixth place on the ladder, the Doggies will be favourites for the clash between western suburbs teams, with Essendon firmly out of finals contention.

Hawthorn will remain the hardest team to beat despite their shock loss on Friday night, Beveridge said.

The Hawks would bounce back from their 18 point loss to Richmond and remain the side the watch, Beveridge said.

"As the weeks go on and into the finals they're going to be the hardest to beat ... but they need good fortune and luck like everyone else."

Beveridge said tall Tom Boyd had been the one standout in the VFL team's poor showing against Coburg the week before, performing well in the ruck and showing no signs of late season fatigue.

But the coach had been happy with the mix of talent in the senior team, so decided against elevating him.

"As the weeks go on and the years go on, [Boyd] will become the colossus that our football club believes he will be," Beveridge said.

The Western Bulldogs were missing three tall men to injury – Joel Hamling had hurt his back, Jordan Roughead his foot and Fletcher Roberts an ankle.

Hamling would appear in the Footscray VFL team at the weekend, Roberts would likely return to play in a weeks' time, while Roughead was likely to be one or two weeks away from returning to the field.

"At different stages everyone losses some players, you've got find a way to win under those circumstances," Beveridge said.

"It's a real credit to our players that we've been able to do that."

Essendon had improved over the past month, showing plenty of healthy competition within their ranks, Beveridge said.