KEN Hinkley's "never, ever give up" mantra has a sub-plot: Never say never.

The Port Adelaide senior coach is leaning on AFL history to remind all that his team's dream of a late entry to the top-eight finals is far from shattered today. Most important - while the doubters grow outside the clubhouse in reaction to Port Adelaide's 7-8 win-loss count - Hinkley has the Port Adelaide players firmly believing they can be the wild card to September's finals.

"Footy does stupid things, it does crazy things at any stage - you are never sure," Hinkley said on Friday. "Things happen from nowhere in this game."

The classic example is the 1995 AFL season with the now recast Brisbane Bears. Down by 45 points at three quarter-time to Hawthorn at the Gabba - and staring at the prospect of a 4-12 win-loss count - Brisbane stunned Hawthorn with a nine-goal last term, won by seven points and followed up with five wins from the next six games to qualify for the finals with a 10-12 record.

Port Adelaide plays Greater Western Sydney at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night with the chance to balance the win-loss ledger at 8-8 ... and approach the last six games of the home-and-away series with the much-mocked but realistic "one week at a time" theme.

"We are 7-3 in the past 10 - that says we are capable. We have a game (Saturday night) that we need to stay focused on. And if we do that, we have a chance. Go away from that (narrow) focus - and you are no chance," Hinkley said.

"We prepare for this game as if it was the most - and only - important game for us to play because we have to play it well. The opposition makes you do different things week in, week out. You prepare slightly differently for the opposition, the ground ...

"But our focus remains on what we can control - and that is improving our club every day. That is what we set out to do at the start of the week and what we will do at the start of next week. The opposition will change; our focus will not."

Port Adelaide's "living in the now" theme has been the only agenda at Alberton since the team opened the season with a 0-5 count.

"Living in the now is still what it is," Hinkley said. "We are in a position where we have to be that way. We are not going to change our view or our focus. It is going to stay narrow; it is going to stay on the game coming up immediately.

"Any loss makes it harder ... any win makes it easier. That is the position we have put ourselves in.

"The playing group will act and behave the way we lead them. Through the coaching team, everyone around the football club - and the players - we have maintained a narrow focus. And we ain't going away from that.

"Our captain Tom Jonas gives me great confidence on how the players feel. There is no distraction - they are chasing (wins) as hard as they can chase."

Port Adelaide put one change - recalling midfielder Zak Butters from injury to replace half-forward Lachie Jones (hamstring) - on the AFL team sheets on Thursday night. But Hinkley has warned the final 22 is still subject to change.

"Zak is the only confirmation I can give," Hinkley said before the captain's run at Adelaide Oval on Friday morning. "He definitely will play. And he makes us better.

"We still have a bit to work through.

"We expect the team we have named to play, but ... It is that stage of the year where players are unfortunately a little bit sore. We are still working through some stuff. Normally, I would sit here really confidently saying we won't be changing (the selected line-up) ...

"We expect to be (as named), but we do have a couple of boys we are still checking out."

The team sheets include key defender Tom Clurey as an emergency.

"Tom has come back from his knee (injury) which has caused him some problems right through the year - we seem to have had one or two of our defenders each week coming off a sore knee," Hinkley said. "Tom is coming back from a sore knee now. If we need him to play, he can play."

Port Adelaide will again work the makeshift ruck tandem of Jeremy Finlayson and Charlie Dixon while experienced lead ruckman Scott Lycett and novice AFL ruckman Sam Hayes make their return to the SANFL this weekend.

"That gives Scott the chance to be available for the week after - or the week after that," said Hinkley of Lycett, who is to play his first game since shoulder surgery needed after being injured against Melbourne in round 4.

Hinkley remains enthused by the Finlayson-Dixon partnership, more so when their absence from key attacking roles is less noted while key forward Todd Marshall is testing defences.

"Jeremy has been good for us in and around the ball; so has Sam Powell-Pepper at times," Hinkley said. "We have had flexibility, but certainly Todd holding up well in the front half has been really important for us. And Mitch (Georgiades) has been okay for us in the forward half.

"It is not ideal. But it what we're dealing with at the moment."

In a season when Port Adelaide has found greater diversity in attack - particularly with the rise of Marshall - the scoreboard tells of a team that has broken the watershed 100-point marker just twice and is working at a 50 per cent conversion rate with an average scoreline of 11.11.

"Our conversion is something we work on week in, week out - and we expected it to be getting better," Hinkley said. "It has not quite delivered the results we need."

Port Adelaide's form line during games is much like that of the team's season. As Hinkley noted a fortnight ago, Port Adelaide does not need to get better - it needs to show its best more consistently.

"We look for the reasons for those momentum swings - like the 12 minutes of the second quarter against Fremantle and the 12 minutes of the last quarter (when Port Adelaide came to within nine points of the lead)," Hinkley said. "We ask, 'What was different?' 'What were we elite at?' 'What were we poor at?'

"How many minutes are you capable of being (at your best)? We are capable of (matching) any team in the competition. The top teams separate themselves by the amount of minutes they do that for ... and (on Thursday night) we saw how Melbourne and Geelong have big minutes in them at the moment.

"And it is just a minor adjustment ... but it becomes so big in a game of football if you get your shape wrong or if you get your contest wrong, you pay a big price in small moments. And if you get it right, you can put pressure on the opposition.

"We're getting better, we are getting closer. We are 7-3 (since the 0-5 start) and we have lost to Richmond, Fremantle and Geelong who are going okay."

The 13th-ranked Greater Western Sydney (5-10) has restored height to its line-up by recalling defender Lachlan Keeffe (204cm). Despite losing three of its past four games, Greater Western Sydney has pushed top-eight contenders - Brisbane last week by 14 points, the Western Bulldogs to 20 points three weeks ago and Collingwood to 11 points.

"They have freedom," notes Hinkley of a team playing without expectation - and to a new theme from interim coach Mark McVeigh. "They are playing attacking football. They are playing risk-free in their offence. And they are such a dangerous team - they have such talent around the ball and forward of the ball that they can put a score on anyone.

"The game against the Western Bulldogs was the highest-scoring game of the season. They have that freedom at the moment that they are taking some risks - and it has been working for them okay.

"They are 3-3 since Mark took over. Their talent is really, really strong. They are certainly playing slightly differently (to the teams that were previously led by coach Leon Cameron). They have certainly changed their game style. In the past six weeks, they are a bit more long down the line than they have been."

The match begins at 7pm. This will be the last game with the special offer of free entry to kids aged under 15.