Time is ticking with just two months until the Western Bulldogs take on St Kilda in the NAB Challenge but Strategy and Opposition Coach Brett Montgomery is confident the boys will be ready.

Pre-season is well underway at the kennel as the Bulldogs look to build on the foundations set in season 2013.

While Montgomery accepts the Club’s late season form in isolation does not reflect the year as a whole, there are plenty of positives to draw on in the final nine rounds.

“We’ve really dived back into those last eight weeks where we played a really good brand of footy,” Montgomery said.

“We played a sustainable type of footy, we picked a really good footy team [and] we had players improving.

“I think of what we have seen in training so far, we are looking to capitalise on that, we don’t for one second think that that is in the bank but there is plenty to build on.”

Montgomery said the coaching staff were pleased with the condition the players returned to the kennel in, refreshed and ready to delve into the first block of training.

“It’s all on them to come back in the right shape and we can’t question them they did a fantastic job and a professional job,” he said.

“We had a platform to really start training, not to have to manage anyone or to ease anyone through – so that gave us a great start.”

On return from the Christmas break the urgency and training loads are expect to spike, to best prepare the Bulldogs for their first hitout in February.

“There’s not a lot of footy sessions between now and when we roll up on that Wednesday to play our first NAB [Challenge], but we are pretty comfortable with the way they are going,” he said.

The Bulldogs will go head to head with St Kilda on Wednesday 19 February 2014 at Simonds Stadium in their first formalised hitout for the year.