Port Adelaide assistant coach Nathan Bassett admits the side has some work to do before this Saturday’s do-or-die clash against Greater Western Sydney.

The playing group also took a couple of injury hits on the weekend, with Trent McKenzie, Todd Marshall and Dylan Williams all awaiting imaging results ahead of the home semi-final.

Bassett spoke with the media on Monday about the tough loss in Brisbane, how they’re looking to improve against the Giants whether key forward Charlie Dixon might be back in the mix.

Bassett on reviewing Saturday’s game
“The coaches have had their reviews this morning and we'll sit with the players this afternoon. I think we've got to be better for longer. There were periods of the game where we played some good footy and created some opportunities and defended okay and there were some periods where particularly the score from stoppage was a significant factor for us on the night.”

Bassett on goal kicking
“Yeah it wasn’t a great night for us and we missed some easy shots. Todd's got a few extenuating circumstances around his kicking but it wasn't a great night for our finishing and maybe it impacted momentum at times in the first half, but it was more than that.”

Bassett on injuries
“It's a very busy Sportsmed this afternoon…so we'll await those scans later on and find out more information then. As far as I’m aware (Trent McKenzie and Dylan Williams) are okay, I haven't seen them since Saturday night, we came back on a different plane Sunday morning so as far as I'm aware they're okay.

"Todd (Marshall)’s had some hip issues and we're waiting on a few scans today and he's one of them. We'll find out more today and tomorrow morning. I imagine he's in some doubt. (Tom Jonas) is certainly trying (to get back). I don't think the scan was too bad on the calf so he hasn’t gone into full retirement mode just yet, he'll certainly keep going in an attempt to be available.

“I think Aliir's going to be better for a full week's training. To not train last Thursday he probably didn’t play quite at the level that we're hoping for but I'm really confident that we've seen enough from Aliiir that he'll play strongly this week. I don’t think he was too uncomfortable but it certainly impacts the way a player performs when there's still some doubt leading into the game.”

Bassett on Ollie Lord’s form
“I think Ollie is someone that stands up every week, he's a great competitor, he does the little things well. And it was nice to see him get some reward, he had a big job on (Harris) Andrews and did his best. Andrews still did a couple of things but the thing about Ollie is he'll always give his best no matter what and good for him, but we want him to do it again this week.”

Bassett on Charlie Dixon
“Charlie's run four times and he will certainly push to train and he'll want to play this week. Charlie's a great competitor and he holds a lot of people to account in the forward line and across the team so it's always nice to have his presence out there.”

Bassett on his defenders
“I think the positives in a way is there are less of the bigger forwards left in the finals that we will be likely to play at this stage. I think we can handle most of the forward lines with what we have. Trent (McKenzie), we would like to think he'd be some sort of chance this week anyway and certainly the week after that…that's one positive. Very happy for Miles (Bergman) and Lachie Jones, I thought they both stood up at different times and they play tall so we think they can do a good job for us down back.”

Bassett on GWS
“The way we matched up on them last time was okay, they didn’t have the small forwards so both (Brent) Daniels and (Toby) Bedford weren't there but we're small enough, we’re not as concerned about the smaller people.

“They certainly run at you and they're a very good stoppage side. There were 13 goals we conceded from stoppage on the weekend, it was easily our worst performance for the season. Four were defensive stoppages where we've been very strong all year, five from centre bounce which is as bad as we’ve probably been since, maybe Essendon in Round 6. There are some outliers there that I think we can tidy up and reduce, GWS are strong in those areas and we were able to match them pretty well a few weeks ago and I think we've got some faster pieces behind the ball and we're not going be super tall behind the ball so it certainly allows us to be more mobile and agile and get after them.”

Bassett on Ollie Wines
“Ollie was very good against GWS a month ago, he gets shuffled outside a little bit more when (Willem) Drew tags and Drew did a great job on Lachie Neale and that's always part of the balance of the side, the value of tagging and the job that he did and the impact it has on us and what roles people play on the day. I think Ollie's been playing pretty good footy, it wasn't his best game on Saturday night that's for sure but he’s had a pretty good month.”

Bassett on the home crowd
“We'd like to have a big crowd, we’ve played some good footy lately. I think we had times where we've played some good footy on Saturday night without being able to hang in there long enough. Our players love a great crowd at Adelaide Oval and we'd sure like to see them Saturday night.”

Bassett on the growth in the side
“We're a very different team now (to what we were in 2021), whether that's better or not I don’t know but it's very different. I like the younger people that we have in the side, their resilience, I still thought a lot of them stood up and performed on the weekend. We need more though from more (players). Saturday night presents us with another opportunity to get better as a footy club…the younger men, they'll keep growing, they're going to be strong leaders. There's a lot of strong, good young people in our footy club and here's another opportunity that presents itself to be better.”

Bassett on the finality of this weekend’s result
“The reality of finals in the AFL is there's only one week you get a second chance and that's the first one. Even if you win your first final, you're jumping straight into a prelim and there's a finality there so our guys need more footy, here's another opportunity for us to get better and let's make the most of it.”