Canterbury coach Des Hasler is confident captain James Graham will be available for next week's NRL match against Penrith despite picking up a neck injury on Saturday night.
Graham played just 20 minutes before aggravating a neck issue in the last-gasp loss to Cronulla. It was believed he had originally suffered the injury in last week's loss to Sydney Roosters.
The Bulldogs prop didn't return, however Hasler played down the concern post-match and expects Graham to be fit to take on the Panthers next Sunday.
"He was OK during the week. I don't think it's anything major. We've got a long turnaround Sunday. We'll probably need it, a few of them were banged up," Hasler said.
For the second time in a month, Graham's exit forced front-row partner Aidan Tolman to turn in a mammoth effort and play out the entire match.
He finished with a team-high 44 tackles to go with his 120 metres, however it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs lost 9-8 to fall to their third successive defeat.
"That's just what the coaching staff and players asked of me so that's just what we had to do. Very disappointed in the result," Tolman said.
"We played very good tonight against a tough, quality team, but just fell up short again.
"The last three games that we've lost, you can't question our effort. It's always there, but it's only going to keep you in games, not necessarily going to win them.
"We need to be better. There's a few things that we definitely need to improve on and we're working hard at that. There's some positives, things will turn."
Hasler pinpointed one defensive set late in the match that was the difference between the two sides, but for the second straight week, he was also upset with their fifth-tackle options.
"One set there in the second half which was pretty crucial. I think it was a 100m set and probably our kicking game was ineffective in that second half there. That's all it was," he said.
"For most parts of the game, I thought we competed better. But the result's on the scoreboard, it's pretty significant. When you look at it like that, that's what this period of the game's about.
"It's about Origin - it's about trying to get these wins any possible way you can."
The loss leaves the Bulldogs two points out of the top eight ahead of next week's clash against the Panthers, before taking on St George Illawarra and the Warriors either side of a bye.
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