Western Bulldogs assistant coach Matt Spangher has praised the team for its ability to adapt in the absence of personnel.

Defenders Buku Khamis and Rory Lobb were swung forward in the Dogs’ most recent match against GWS, while youngsters Ryley Sanders and Joel Freijah have enjoyed more of a midfield-forward mix in recent weeks.

Speaking on RSN on Tuesday morning, Spangher said those on-field moves wouldn’t be possible without the buy-in from the playing group.

“As a whole, I’m pretty impressed with the players’ capacity to adopt and buy into new positions - if they don’t do that, then none of those (moves) may end up working,” Spangher said.

“In the forward line we’ve had a couple of key defensive pillars come and help the last couple of weeks with Darc going down, and then even in the midfield with Joel Freijah going in there, and even Ryley Sanders has really bought into some more forward time. If those guys don’t do that, it doesn’t work.

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“It’s good to have the start we’ve had, but I think we could have maybe even pinched a couple more at times. It’s good to be on this side of the ledger at this stage of the season.”

Spangher also lauded spearhead Aaron Naughton, who notched up game 150 over the Giants in Canberra, for his leadership and impact.

“Aaron’s a competitive beast, and he has always been the leader of the forward line in my time here, even though he was only 22 at that stage,” he said.

“He’s a proud man Naughts...he’s done a really good job in the last couple of weeks.”

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With Sam Darcy, Cody Weightman and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan unavailable, Spangher said there was a silver lining to having those outs.

“It can be (a challenge) but that’s what you use your whole list for,” he said.

“The reality is there’s probably 100 goals left on the table with those three guys not playing much footy this year, so you’ve got to find those from somewhere else but that’s where you trust your system.

“With that comes great opportunity...there’s always a silver lining to these situations. You just have to look at it that way.”

The Bulldogs will head down to Mars Stadium this Saturday to host Port Adelaide.

“The players will go down there the night before, but we’ll train at Mission Whitten Oval this week and just head down on Saturday,” Spangher said.

“It’s good down at Mars Stadium – we really enjoy playing there. Hopefully it’s not too windy - normally it’s flying a gale - but we’ll see how we go this weekend.”