Languishing in 16th place on the ladder and three wins off eighth, Sydney are refusing to give up on a finals berth, though history suggests they face a near impossible task.

The Bulldogs beat the Swans by 22 points in the 2016 grand final, by 23 in their round two clash in Melbourne earlier this season and snatched a four-point win in their last meeting in Sydney.

But memories of recent losses, especially last year’s season decider, won’t be spurring the 3-7 Swans at the SCG according to their skipper Josh Kennedy.

“It’s certainly not revenge,” Kennedy said.

“It’s a four-pointer, it’s an extremely important four-pointer for the position we’re in at the moment.

“We’ll be doing everything we can to make sure that we try and turn things around.”

Kennedy holds the Bulldogs in high regard despite a mixed start to a defence which has produced six wins and four losses.

“I rate them really highly, we certainly won’t be taking them lightly given what they were able to accomplish last year,” Kennedy said.

“The media might write them off here or there or against certain opposition but they keep finding a way to get up and produce good games.

“It’s certainly going to be a tough contest. We’re confident that if we play our brand of footy that we can match it with them.”

The champion midfielder seemed a little surprised the bookies had made Sydney favourites for Thursday’s game.

“I wasn’t aware of that, I’ll take it, but it’s irrelevant for us,” Kennedy said.

In a season where upset results have been commonplace, Kennedy stressed that sides couldn’t afford to take the pressure off at all.

“You take the foot off the pedal even one per cent, you get found out,” he said.

“Thats just how even the competition is this year and that’s got to be at the forefront of our minds every game, given the situation we’re in.”

-AAP