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Disappointed by their fade-out against Brisbane, Luke Beveridge is still backing his Western Bulldogs ahead of a difficult run of AFL games.

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge "won't stop believing" despite a setback loss to Brisbane kickstarting their arduous AFL run.

The visitors were up by 18 points in the second quarter at the Gabba on Thursday before the Lions surged in a 41-point victory, winning 16.12 (108) to 9.13 (67).

It left the Bulldogs in ninth place on percentage with four of their next five games against teams above them on the ladder, starting with Sydney on Friday.

"We've got this run of games against teams in the top eight and above us and there's no doubt it's a significant stretch of arduous challenging games," he said.

"All we can do is apply ourselves and believe in ourselves.

"That was my main message to the players after the game.

"I won't stop believing in them and people around them won't.

"As long as they firmly believe we can keep challenging some of the better sides, we will, but we need more to go right than tonight."

Bailey Smith remains suspended but ruckman Tim English (concussion) will likely return to face the Swans, while Ed Richards could also return after missing the Lions clash with concussion.

Beveridge was content with how his side snuffed out any early fire in Brisbane, who were steaming after a 64-point loss to Melbourne last week.

But he lamented a lack of precision and poor usage despite a 15-plus clearance differential.

"I don't think we made the most of our opportunities unfortunately in that first half," he said.

"You've just got to pick yourself up and carry on and I felt Brisbane's pressure and contest improved to another level."