'Bullish' Dogs left shell shocked by Essendon edge

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has called on his playing group to face “reality” after they coughed up a nine-point lead to go down at the hands of Essendon by 29 points at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.

The Dogs held a lead in the second term, but allowed the Bombers to pile on six unanswered goals in the second half.

Beveridge, whose side now sit at 2-3 after round five will have to go back to the drawing board.

The 2016 premiership coach says his side were shocked by the Bombers edge.

“Behind closed doors we came here pretty bullish about our chances,” Beveridge said post match.

“We’re not ruthless at the moment.”

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Beveridge declared he still has the support of his playing group, who have arguably one of the stronger lists in the league

“Internally, speaking to the players then, I talked to them about how much I believe in them and how much we’re capable of,” he said.

“The players themselves have created an internal pressure for spots, and that’s all OK if you end up being a formidable team, but right now we’re not.

‘It’s reality.”

There are fears that star midfielder Tom Liberatore could have suffered a delayed concussion after copping a heavy hit from Essendon forward Jake Stringer.

Beveridge was quick to shut down fears that the 2016 premiership star could miss game time in the coming weeks.

“He’s fine. I think for some reason he lost his footing and stumbled,” Beveridge said.

“He’s been looked after, no concussion. He’s apparently fine.”

It took over a quarter for the Bulldogs to muster up a response after the Bombers piled on six goals, kicking their first goal after a 40-minute dry spell.

They managed to stem the bleeding and reduce the margin in the final term, kicking the last two majors of the match, but the damage was already done.

Earlier in the week, Beveridge also came under fire after axing star midfield-defender Caleb Daniel for the Bombers clash.

The Bulldogs lost by 29 points on Friday night.

“There’s a finite amount of minutes midfielders can play. We had others before him (Daniel) this week,” Beveridge said.

The Bulldogs now look ahead to their must-win clash against St Kilda next week, sitting with a 2-3 record after five rounds.

As for what’s next, the Dogs face the Saints in a must-win clash.

“History is history, we need to make sure we do what we can … to make sure we capitalise on the week to week,” Beveridge said.