PORT ADELAIDE's coaches face a selection challenge this week, following the loss of Xavier Duursma to injury on Friday night.

With four consecutive wins under its belt, the Power heads into a home clash against Essendon this weekend, with the Bombers fighting for a place in the top eight.

Midfield coach Josh Carr spoke to the Adelaide media on Tuesday to discuss selection possibilities, the side’s current run of form and Jason Horne-Francis’s career best performance in Round 7.

Carr on Xavier Duursma’s PCL injury
“Disappointing for X to get the injury. He'd been in good form and playing his role really well for the team (so it’s) disappointing to have him go out. He'd be a bit flat but at the same time, the next eight or 10 weeks he can use to get himself right and get himself fit and ready to go.

“As far as guys replacing Duurs, we feel like there are a number of players that are playing well enough to come in and play that role. Within the team that is playing – the mids that are playing – we feel like we've got some flexibility to (move them around). It’s probably not as simple as (just bringing a winger in from the SANFL). We want to pick the best team and make sure whoever plays that role is going to help us win so it could come from within the 22 or it could come from one of the players that played for the Magpies on the weekend.”

Carr on Miles Bergman playing on the wing
“He’s definitely an option. Bergs has been really solid on the wing and he's been good when we've needed him to play down back so there's definitely an option for him to (play more on the wing).”

Carr on who impressed in SANFL on Sunday
“Obviously it was good to get the win, that’s the first point. (Jackson) Mead spent some time on the wing, Hugh Jackson on the inside was really impressive, Josh Sinn is starting to find a bit of form as well, so it's good to have a bit of selection pressure with some guys playing well.”

Carr on his Brynn Teakle and Scott Lycett
“Teakle played his fourth game and he's still got a lot to learn…in the actual ruck itself he gave us a good contest (on Friday). The numbers I don’t think match up to what the contest was inside and the way we were able to get some efficiency in the stoppage. There are a number of those conversations that we'll be having this week. (Teakle) will get better the more games that he gets. (Who plays in the ruck is) a decision that we have to make as coaches (based on) what's right for the team and (Teakle’s) development, but more importantly it's about the team.

“Scott copped a bit of a knock early in the (SANFL) game on the weekend. He just needs to build his form and play really good football at that level to knock the door down and get chosen. He's probably not quite there yet but that doesn’t rule him out this year.”

Carr on Jason Horne-Francis’s performance on Friday
“I was really happy with it, as a lot of Port people would have been. Jason's worked really hard on his game, week in, week out. As we've touched on, he's 19 years old, he's going to have some really good games and then some average ones, that's the reality of where he’s at right now. We just have to get some more consistency, which I think he is, in his games between his good and bad.”

Carr on Orazio Fantasia’s quad injury
“(It is) a little bit (indefinite about when he will be back). With those injuries, I guess you put a time on it, the regular time you'd put on a quad or whatever it is, but at the same time you've got to assess the person and how it's developing. He's started running, we just have to be careful that we don't push him too hard.”

Carr on Essendon’s midfield and the Power’s current run of form
“I think it will be a really good matchup. They've got some quick midfielders that can run and can get outside so we've got a really big challenge coming up.

“(Since losing against Collingwood and Adelaide), sometimes you need a bit of a kick in the bum to get things going for you and I thought everyone at the club worked hard to turn things around and just (focus with) a bit more detail with the way that we played and the things that we value in our game plan. We’ve been really strong defensively in the last month of football and that just complements everything we have done around that.”