WESTERN Bulldogs midfielder Tom Liberatore is a chance to face Gold Coast on Saturday night after pulling up better than expected from a rib injury.

The 23-year-old sustained the damage in the Bulldogs' 10-point win over Richmond when he collided with Tiger Jayden Short.

Liberatore was taken to hospital by ambulance during the match.

Bulldogs football manager Graham Lowe said the club hadn't ruled out the star playmaker from making the trip to Cairns to play the Suns.

"He’s come in to the club today in good spirits, we’ve received his scan results which shows that he has no internal injuries, but he does have a minor rib injury," Lowe told westernbulldogs.com.au.
 
"We’ll give him every opportunity to play this weekend, but obviously his welfare is paramount."

Liberatore has averaged 21 disposals and five tackles a game this year after missing the entire 2015 season with an ACL tear.

It looms as an interesting match committee meeting for the Dogs' brains trust this week with several important selection decisions to make.

Besides whether to risk Liberatore, the Bulldogs must decide whether key forward Tom Boyd has served his penance and lift a club-imposed suspension for a drunken altercation with teammate Zaine Cordy.

The high–priced recruit should come into contention for his first senior game since round four to help the Dogs solve their ongoing scoring problems.

Despite sitting fourth on the ladder, Luke Beveridge's men are sitting a lowly 10th for scoring.