UNDER pressure defender Brian Lake has been told he will not be leaving the Western Bulldogs.

Lake, 29, has endured a dramatic form slump in 2011 after off-season surgery on his knee, hip and shoulder and he continues to battle soreness as well as a lack of confidence.

He did not play his first game until round three this season and has managed only five senior matches this year, playing in four losses and a solitary win against Gold Coast.

The defender has not played in the AFL since a disappointing showing in the Bulldogs' 61-point loss to Geelong in round 11 where he managed only nine disposals, three of which resulted in goals after being pushed forward in the last term.

There has been speculation that Lake, contracted to the Bulldogs until the end of 2013, was disgruntled at Whitten Oval and would seek to be traded at season's end but Bulldogs football manager James Fantasia said Lake would be going nowhere.

"There is no way he is going to be traded. He is a required player," Fantasia told the Herald Sun.

"He has been told 1000 per cent that that's the case."

The free-wheeling full-back will again play for Williamstown this weekend in a bid to rediscover his old form which made him one of the most dangerous defenders in the game.

Lake has played five games in the VFL this year and his time out of the seniors since going back after his poor Geelong outing has been mixed.

The former Woodville-West Torrens junior managed less than half a quarter against Frankston before being felled by a bizarre eye injury and then was pushed forward last weekend against Bendigo, where he booted two goals.

He was not been named in Williamstown's best in any of his five appearances for the Seagulls this year.