DANIEL Giansiracusa's knee injury may have provided Sam Reid with his opportunity, but the versatile onballer is a worthy inclusion in the Bulldogs line-up this week.

Reid, 19, made his AFL debut in round 22 of last season with his VFL performances of late meriting a second appearance at the elite level according to football manager James Fantasia.

"Sam Reid gets his opportunity and he thoroughly deserves it because he's been in great form for Williamstown over the last seven or eight weeks," Fantasia said ahead of Saturday night's clash with the Hawks.

"He's featured in their best players five or six times during that period.

"He's a strong midfielder, but he also gives us plenty of flexibility because he can play at both ends of the ground. He's got a big enough motor that he can run through the middle and he works hard to find the ball around stoppages."

Giansiracusa played a pivotal role in last week's win over the Kangaroos despite a tear to his meniscus which will sideline him for as many as six weeks.

"It's obviously disappointing for him to have to miss out on a bit over a month of footy," Fantasia said.

"He's been playing some pretty steady footy for us so a bloke of his quality will certainly be missed, but what it does do is allow some of the younger guys that have been playing some good VFL football to possibly force their way into the line-up."

Tom Williams will take another step toward returning to senior football this week following the plantar fascia injury that has seen him out of the side since round nine.

"Tom's just working on getting some touch and match fitness back," Fantasia said.

"He played 60 to 70 per cent of last week's game for Williamstown and he should be able to run a full game out this week which will give him a lot of confidence."

Tim Callan, Brennan Stack and Dylan Addison are the emergencies for the match against the reigning premiers.