The Bulldogs suffered a 55-point hiding against Myrtleford to fall out of the top five and will now host another finals contender in Lavington on Saturday.

“There’s no doubt that was our lowest score in our effort level indicators,” Wodonga coach Dean Harding said.

“We just need to make sure they’re up.”

The loss was the first of a four-match block against teams striving for a finals berth.

And the Bulldogs have responded by bringing in Collingwood VFL defender Ryan Pendlebury (groin) and co-captain Brett Doswell (calf).

Former best and fairest Josh Hicks, Nick Beattie and Isaac Wallace will join the duo.

“This will be Ryan’s fourth game, so he qualifies for finals, obviously if we make it,” Harding said.

“Potentially he could be available for finals, depending on how Collingwood go.”

The Pies have only two wins and sit 12^th in the VFL, but Harding is crafty enough to know finals will be an impossible dream if the generally hard-working outfit serves up another shocker.

Hicks, who finished runner-up in last year’s best and fairest to ruckman Matt Seiter, has had a disrupted season.

“He played one senior game against Yarrawonga and played well, but he just didn’t pull up as well as we’d like,” Harding said.

Lavington, which has a seven-three record, leads Wodonga by a game.