Following a break-out start to the season in the midfield, Josh Kennedy has shown he has yet another string to his bow.

The 23-year-old, who has averaged 26 disposals and six tackles per game this season, has also proved to be a reliable goal-kicker for the Swans, contributing 13 for the year.

Kennedy has notched up multiple goals in four games this season, resulting in the tough midfielder ranking as the Swans’ number two goal kicker behind Lewis Jetta.

But despite his excellent form in front of goal, Kennedy doesn’t expect he’ll be playing a key position up forward any time soon.

“I’ll leave (playing one-on-one up forward) to Reidy and Tommy Walsh and Goodsey when he comes back … if I can just lay a few tackles and get a few ground balls when they bring it to ground then I’ll be playing my role,” Kennedy said today.

“But I do enjoy (playing forward) and getting a rest down there and standing next to Reidy and watching him fly for a few grabs and hopefully if he can bring a few down to the feet and let me go to work, that’d be good.”

Kennedy said he considered his contribution to the scoreboard as part of his role as a midfielder, and said it was an area he worked on over the pre-season.

“Every time we train and during pre-season we’re always looking for ways to improve and you don’t want to - especially now with the three on the bench - to be just pigeon-holed to one position, so if I can push forward and have an impact down there then that’s great for me and also for the team,” he said.

“If it’s working then great, but if it’s not then I’ll have to come back up into the midfield.”

Looking ahead to this Sunday’s match at the SCG, Kennedy said the Swans will need to be at their best as they face an in-form Western Bulldogs side.

“It’s a really good challenge for us this week,” Kennedy said.

“I think they’re the number one contested ball difference team over the last four weeks so it’s a really good challenge for us after the loss against St Kilda to bounce back.

“It’s a big game for us and a really, really good challenge to show where we’re at and see if we can show a bit of resilience and bounce back after the weekend.”

The Swans will come up against another experienced midfield group including the likes of Ryan Griffen, Matthew Boyd and Adam Cooney.

Kennedy said the team’s attitude and intensity will need to change dramatically from what was produced in last week’s 28-point loss to the Saints if they are going to win the battle against the Bulldogs this weekend.

He said the team needs to get back to the type of football which saw them win five consecutive games at the beginning of the season.

“We’re looking at it as a big challenge and we’re excited and relishing the challenge,” he said.

“For us, we’ll break off into our lines whether its midfield, defence or forward and we’ll go to work on (the Bulldogs) and study the way they like to play and not shy away from what makes us a good team, which we perhaps have in lapses in quarters and games over the last four weeks.

“Our contested possession, our hard-ball gets, our tackling, our tackling percentage and all that stuff is really a mindset and a choice that can be made.

“You can turn it on with one action and you can lose it pretty quickly too, so we’ve got to make sure we stay on top of each other and really bring our best in that area.”