The Western Bulldogs have confirmed that Josh Bruce suffered an injury to multiple ribs during Saturday night's loss to Port Adelaide, with the 30-year-old to be sidelined indefinitely.

Bruce was substituted from the game after coping the knock to the ribs in the third term, having collected eight disposals for the evening. The 30-year-old has played five games for the Dogs this season after an ACL injury saw him feature just five times in 2022.

The Bulldogs confirmed the news of Bruce's injury on Sunday, revealing he had returned to Melbourne with his return to the field to be confirmed in the "coming weeks".

"Bulldogs key defender Josh Bruce has suffered a significant injury to multiple ribs after a collision during the third quarter of last night's clash against Port Adelaide," the club statement read.

"The 30-year-old has returned to Melbourne this morning, with his return to play plan to be confirmed over the coming weeks."

Bruce joins Alex Keath (concussion), Laith Vandermeer (leg), Harvey Gallagher (hamstring), Roarke Smith (foot) and Dom Bedendo (groin) on the Bulldogs' injury list.