PORT ADELAIDE SANFL captain Steven Summerton will spend more time on the ball against Glenelg on Saturday as the Magpies look to arrest a three-game losing run.

Summerton has been employed in various roles this season including off half back but was important when he spent more time in the midfield in the loss to Adelaide at Kadina Oval last Sunday.

Magpies coach Matthew Lokan has identified the Tigers’ ability to win the contested ball as key to Saturday’s match up at Alberton Oval.

“We’ll need to be strong in the contest,” Lokan told portadelaidefc.com.au.

“Summo will play a lot more on the ball this week, we’ll get him closer to the contest because I thought he was pretty good in the second half in there last week.”

Tall defender Jarrod Lienert will be missing from the Magpies side after being called up for his AFL debut but small forward Jake Neade is expected to return after a week out with a knee injury.

Jasper Pittard will also be missing from the Port Adelaide backline after being recalled by the Power at the expense of Riley Bonner who will play SANFL.

“We’ve lost a couple of important players from our side so it’ll be a tough challenge for us but one which the boys are looking forward to after last week’s disappointing result,” Lokan said.

“Collectively we need to lift – most of our players would say they had an off day against Adelaide.

“We all need to respond - and having Riley Bonner back into the side is a bonus – but we’re looking for guys like him and Jimmy Toumpas to give us some run from defence so we can hopefully get the game on our terms and get the result we’re after.

“We’re going to be a bit undersized in the backline this week but bringing in Darcy Ginever and Dale Finney will add some height but it’s certainly one area that we’ll be short in but our defenders are really good in the contest, they’re pretty aggressive and they’ll do everything they can to bring the ball to ground for us.”

The Bays sit ninth on the SANFL ladder, one spot and just one point behind the Magpies.

But they’ll be full of confidence after a narrow win over fifth-placed South Adelaide last weekend.

“It’ll be a challenge but I know the boys are looking forward to it,” Lokan said, conceding his side just had to keep winning to remain in the hunt for the finals.

“It’s the old cliché of looking at one game at a time because our form hasn’t been great the last two weeks but we were playing some good footy before that so it’s about getting back to playing the way we want to play and making amends and responding this week.”

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