Western Bulldogs midfielder Nathan Hrovat says his side are prepared to give Port Adelaide a ‘shake’ when they take on the Power in Adelaide on Saturday night.

The Dogs are one and one from the interstate trips this year, with a win against Sydney at the SCG in round five and a loss to the Hawks in Tasmania in round three.

However the confidence gained from the Sydney trip and a big performance against the undefeated Fremantle in round seven should hold the Dogs in good stead, according to Hrovat.

“They’re (Port Adelaide) in good form, they’re a good side but obviously we can take a bit of confidence from our performances so hopefully we can go over there and give them a really good shake.

“(The focus) is keeping an open mind and keeping our energy up and to bring our ‘ A-game' because we know it’s good enough, we’ve shown it in the past and hopefully we can knock them over at their home ground.”

Hrovat returned the senior side in round nine against the Giants, after two weeks at VFL level where he focused on his contested work.

“Everyone aspires to play at AFL level and the VFL level was really important for me just to go back and work on a couple of things that I needed to work on.

“Obviously the focus was just to get a bit of form, go back, work on connections inside 50 and my proactivity around the contest so it was good to go back and then come back in against the Giants.”

The Bulldogs have surprised many with their form over the start of the season, but Hrovat said it was important to take that momentum in to the second half of the year.

“I think our first half of the year, we’ve not exceeded expectations but definitely got to a point where we can be happy with how we’re going and we just want to build on that now.

“It’s really important for us to cap off this week with a win and head into the bye 6-4 which would be really good.”