Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says veteran Matthew Boyd hasn't performed "anywhere near his best" recently, which is why he's been dropped for Sunday's clash with Melbourne.

Boyd missed the Bulldogs' final two matches before the bye with a shoulder injury and was brought back into the side last Thursday night to face Sydney, and recorded 22 disposals and nine rebound 50s.

However, it wasn't enough to see him retain his spot this weekend, with Beveridge suggesting the 2016 premiership player needs to work on his disposal efficiency and his defending.

"It's a really challenging one. Of all the players historically to have walked the corridors of the Whitten Oval, he's one of the most dignified and respected characters at our football club," Beveridge told reporters on Saturday morning.ย 

"It's one of the hardest parts of the job, messaging that disappointment, and he's taken it as you'd expect. He's such a stand-up character and leader at our club. He understands why.

"He just probably hasn't been anywhere near his best in recent times and it's the same approach for everyone, as far as our assessment of our performances.

"He'll play tonight against Casey and once he gets on top of those one or two things โ€ฆ it's probably just the core phases of the game. Using it and defending, he's just been a fraction off his absolute best.ย 

"It seems a bit strange that an All-Australian from 2016 be omitted at this time of year, but it happens and we believe he'll play well at VFL level and get back into the team at some point."

The 290-game veteran is now in doubt to play his 300th career match in 2017, with Boyd needing to play every game from next weekend onwards if he's to achieve the milestone in the home-and-away season.

One of Beveridge's five inclusions this weekend is hard-nosed midfielder Tom Liberatore, who will make his first appearance for the Dogs since round eight.

The premiership coach said Liberatore had done enough in the VFL last weekend to warrant a recall, and is now hopeful the 25-year-old can produce some of his best football on Sunday.

"He had an influential game. His second-half was quite outstanding. He played the whole last quarter on the ball and had a number of breakaway type of clearances (and) he defended extremely well," Beveridge said.

"He's been a really important player for us historically so we're not expecting him to get the three Brownlow votes โ€“ which he might, it'd be great โ€“ but we know that we'll get him back to somewhere near his best tomorrow."