Bontempelli has missed the past two matches after undergoing emergency surgery to remove his appendix, but looms as a likely inclusion for the Bulldogs' battle with Port Adelaide at Mars Stadium.

Western Bulldogs medical services manager Chris Bell confirmed the star midfielder had been given the tick of approval from his surgeon.

"Marcus has completed a full week of training following the removal of his appendix," Bell said.

"He will come back into full training this week and we expect him to be available (this weekend)."

Bontempelli missed the Western Bulldogs' first home game in Ballarat this year due to hip soreness, but watched on as his side beat the Gold Coast Suns by nine points.

While Bontempelli is set to return, the news is not so good for fellow star Luke Dahlhaus.

Dahlhaus injured his ankle in the weekend’s loss to the West Coast Eagles and it appears his season is now over.

“The mechanism of the injury has damaged the high ankle area, or the syndesmosis part of his ankle,” Bell told westernbulldogs.com.au.

“This is notoriously slow to heal and we expect at this stage for his recovery to take six to eight weeks, which is going to rule him out for the remainder of the season.”

Sunday’s game at Mars Stadium is scheduled to begin at 3.20pm and will be the last AFL fixture in Ballarat for 2018.