THE Western Bulldogs will be without Travis Cloke for between four to six weeks after scans confirmed the key forward suffered broken ribs on Good Friday.

The Bulldogs’ three-point win over North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium has been soured by Cloke’s injury, which he picked up after copping a heavy hit from Jack Ziebell during the last quarter.

The 196cm forward went straight to the bench in obvious distress and was taken immediately to hospital, where scans confirmed broken ribs.

The Dogs released a statement on Cloke on Saturday confirming a potential six-week stint on the sidelines.

Round 18

Since crossing over Collingwood, Cloke has made a promising start to his stint at the Bulldogs, booting five goals from his first four games.

Western Bulldogs forward Travis Cloke copped a heavy hit from Jack Ziebell. Source: AAP

Fellow Dogs key forward Tom Boyd will undergo concussion testing this week before deciding whether he’ll be fit for the Dogs’ Round 5 clash against Brisbane.

Boyd was left with a black eye after colliding with Roo Scott Thompson in the first quarter of Friday’s clash at Etihad Stadium.

After the game on Friday, Dogs coach Luke Beveridge was optimistic about Boyd’s prognosis.

“I think (Boyd) will be all right. He seemed OK initially then had some of that delayed concussion that you can’t detect straight away but he seemed coherent early and fine,” Beveridge said.

“Our doctors made the right call and took him out of the game.

“He will get through his week and have the cognitive test at the end of it all and the docs will make a determination at that point.”