THE WESTERN Bulldogs will make several changes ahead of their round two NAB Cup clash against Essendon, with coach Rodney Eade refusing to ‘risk’ any of his players despite wanting to win as many games as possible.

The Dogs will swap at least four players from the side that trumped the Kangaroos in Darwin last Friday night, with a handful of youngsters likely to come in to replace them.

"[Lindsay] Gilbee, [Jarrod] Harbrow and [Farren] Ray won't play, and Ryan Griffen won't play either, because he's got some family involvement in Adelaide," Eade said on Tuesday.

"I think we've recovered ok [from Darwin], there's just a few little niggles and we're not going to take any risks at this stage.

"We'll probably be down to the bare numbers, to be honest. Hopefully Shaun Higgins will be right, Andrew McDougall we're hoping will come back, but he may not get up.

"Will Minson will play, and we're looking at Paul O'Shea for his first game and Jarrad Grant is a chance. There's certainly some younger players that will be playing."

Ray looks set to miss at least a month of football, after leaving TIO Stadium last Friday on crutches following a lower leg injury.

"He's had a big pre-season, and I thought his form on Friday night was quite encouraging," Eade said.

"I suppose the pleasing thing is that it is the fibula, so hopefully it's only four or five weeks. They're saying four to six, but it is the non-weight bearing bone.

"So, hopefully he can make a good recovery."

Eade also refused to weigh into the debate about the proposed 17th and 18th licences, and said it was too early to start expressing opinions.

"I haven't thought about it much, to be honest," he said.

"I haven't got any facts or data, and I think if we speculate, there will be a number of people jumping in shadows.

"People can say, ‘Where are the players going to come from?’, ‘Is there going to be 18 teams?’, or ‘What is the year?’

"Nobody knows. I don't think there is any sense speculating on it until you get the full facts."