WESTERN Bulldogs spearhead Aaron Naughton is facing a race against the clock to be fit in time for next week's wildcard clash against Collingwood, having suffered a lateral ligament injury to his ankle.

Naughton had been among the Dogs' best performers during Saturday's upset win over Melbourne, before rolling his ankle in the third term in an incident that saw him ruled out for the remainder of the match.

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The key forward had kicked two goals from 15 disposals and nine marks early in the third quarter, but is now in some doubt to take on the Magpies in next week's do-or-die wildcard decider.

"It's a lateral ligament injury," Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said afterwards.

"They can settle down really quickly. That's just a bunch of strained ligaments. He ices it, it settles, he doesn't train much and hopefully he'll be OK. But I can't tell you emphatically whether he'll come up."

Naughton is not the only Bulldogs star battling an injury cloud ahead of the clash against Collingwood, with ruck Tim English unlikely to feature as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.

English has missed the last two games with medial ligament damage to his left knee, though Beveridge wouldn't rule the former All-Australian out of contention just yet.

"I thought when I was asked the question a couple of weeks ago it'd be unlikely just given the nature of the injury," Beveridge said.

"He's doing his best to get back. I couldn't tell you either way. We'll see how that unfolds and whether or not he can get up.

"Unfortunately, the nature of the injury is terrible for a ruck because of what they do. They throw their bodies at each other at the centre bounce, so that probably compounds the decision making process a little bit.

"We'll work through it. The good thing is he's up and running and he's doing his best to come back. We'll wait and see."

However, veteran midfielder Tom Liberatore's season is likely over as the tough onballer prepares to undergo surgery to clean up a knee injury on Sunday.

Liberatore was managed from Saturday's victory over the Demons, but Beveridge said he would have an arthroscope operation across the weekend and would now be in a battle to play again this year.

"He's booked in for an arthroscope tomorrow," Beveridge said.

"He was not even a third of the way through the session on Thursday and he had to come off and now, based on what's happening in one of those knees, he needs a tidy up.

"For him to come back and play, we'd need to win a few in a row now. But we believe we can.

"He'll be off legs for a little while, so we'll see how it happens. I don't want to go on the shady side, it's best just to stay neutral because he'll be up and about supporting his teammates. But he'll go into surgery tomorrow."

Melbourne's defeat saw the Demons miss a huge opportunity, with coach Steven King's side having the chance to wrap up a week's break via a top four or top six finish with a victory only to squander the chance in the 21-point loss.

However, speaking afterwards, King chose to see the positive side of the result as Melbourne waits on scores elsewhere across the weekend to now determine whether it plays in a wildcard game next week.

"[The Dogs] are playing finals too," King said afterwards.

"They're a good team, they've got some star players that played accordingly. This was always going to be a hard fought game with expectation.

"You find a bit more out about everyone, your players, yourself, how I handled the week leading up to it. It's all part of the journey and a really good learning experience.

"As we sit here today, one season finishes and a new one starts. We had 15 wins. Our goal at the start of the year was to play finals and that's what we're going to do. I'm really proud of our group and really looking forward to the opportunity that lies ahead for us."

King said he didn't feel as though his players struggled with the occasion, with Melbourne knowing that a win would have guaranteed a week's break courtesy of a top six finish and could have even secured the Dees a double chance had results elsewhere also gone their way.

"Not really … all year, we've had moments where we've been discussed around where we're at as a club," King said.

"We sat here a month ago and we torched the ball and gave up 100 points on turnover against Geelong. From there, we've homed in on different aspects.

"We're 23 games into this journey with me and us all together. When we're at our best and we're firing, our game looks really sharp and in good nick. But we're still evolving. We've still got some young players that are discovering themselves and where they're at.

"I don't look at any missed opportunity as a disappointment. For me, it builds resilience and it steers you on another path to keep improving and get better. That's what we're all here to do."

Melbourne had a couple of injury scares, with young forward Matt Jefferson failing to finish the game after appearing to badly hyperextend his knee midway through the third quarter.

Daniel Turner also limped off with a knee issue in the first term, only to quickly recover, but looked sore walking around in the changerooms after the game.

The Dees will send both in for scans across the weekend, having already lost fellow key position option Jacob van Rooyen to suspension.

"We're not sure yet [about Jefferson]," King said.

"It looked like a hyperextension. He was doing some fitness tests at three-quarter time and they weren't sure. We'll just scan it and keep our fingers crossed.

"We had a couple of those tonight with Daniel Turner as well. I thought the worst at the time and, fingers crossed, they both recover well and the scans are positive."