The 21-year-old speedster was a late omission from the Western Bulldogs side before Saturday night's big loss to Collingwood.

"I injured my hamstring against Geelong in round 20, I was coming back from that," Easton said.

"But I didn't make it through the fitness test (last) Friday. It was obviously disappointing to miss out . . . but it feels fine now."

The athletic defender admitted he was unsure what his chances were of gaining a spot in the Bulldogs side which will take on Sydney in this weekend's cut-throat semi-final.

"Hopefully everything goes my way but I've been out for three games so it will be hard work getting back in," he said.

"This is what you play football for though. This is why you train since November last year.

"I'll have to prove my fitness and then it will depend on the make-up of the team, whether or not I'm in the best 22 they need."

The Bulldogs have the arduous task of bouncing back from a 62-point thrashing by the Magpies.

"It was a tough game to watch up in the stands but hopefully we can turn it around," Wood said.

"We certainly address what went wrong in that game, then we move on from it."

Wood has not been back to the south-west since the split round in June, when he was in Warrnambool to promote an AFL Victoria junior development program.

"I struggle to get back there but these days my Mum's been coming up (from Camperdown) to see me in Melbourne," he said yesterday.

"She's actually with me right now.

"My Dad lives in Melbourne just around the corner so I get to see him a fair bit as well.

"It means I'm never lonely, which is good."

The former Hampden league juniors best and fairest winner hopes he isn't lonely on Saturday night at about 7pm.

Instead he wants to be surrounded by his teammates running out onto the MCG

While he is personally enduring a nervous wait on whether or not he will be added to the side for his first-ever AFL final, he is more focused on his team's future.

"I'm more apprehensive about the game itself," he said.

"There's a lot on the line and that always makes you pretty nervous during the week."

So does he have any stress relieving techniques?

"No, no," he laughed.

"I'm not superstitious or anything like that."