ASSISTANT coach Chad Cornes is expecting Charlie Dixon to return to the Port Adelaide line-up for Friday night’s Anzac Round clash with St Kilda.

Dixon was rested as part of a management plan for the 33-year-old and did not feature in the defeat to reigning premier Collingwood on Saturday.

In his absence Port Adelaide played two rucks for the first time this season and Cornes admitted neither had a big impact when playing forward, although that was not their fault.

Speaking on Monday, Cornes said Dixon was raring to return but that did not mean the side would shift away from playing two rucks.

He also discussed the review of the loss and looked ahead to Friday night’s game, revealing positive injury news on two young players.

Chad Cornes on the review of the loss to Collingwood:

“It was a whole ground issue and to give Collingwood credit, that was them back at their best. But we planned and prepared really well, we knew what to expect from them. They are obviously a really good outnumber team that can use the corridor really aggressively when they get the footy and they bring a lot of heat and in the end, we probably just didn't stand up to that in some crucial moments. They played really well but there's a lot of things we could have done better.

“We've got to learn from it, like it has happened against the top teams and even though Collingwood haven't got off to a great start to the year, I think they're finding their form and I predict they'll be at the top towards the end of the year. So, it's something we do have to address and get better at against those top teams.”

Chad Cornes on the huge momentum swing after a dominant start:

“It was frustrating to start so well and then just not handling it well enough when they did get that run on. And again, full credit to how they played but there's moments in the back end of the first quarter, and then even with five minutes to go in the second.  To give three quick goals up at the end of the second quarter is something we've addressed and looked at. And again, it's a great learning, opportunity, great learning game and next time we play them, hopefully we're a lot better.”

Chad Cornes on playing two rucks with Jordon Sweet and Ivan Soldo both in the line-up against Collingwood:

“They’ve both shown enough when they have had brief moments forward that they're more than capable, and obviously both really good ruckmen but it wasn't a great output and that’s not on them. We went into our shell a little bit with the way we use the footy as the game went on and they both had moments in the ruck but not a big impact when they were forward. It’s true we didn't have a lot of other options to go to in terms of height forward so we might look at that again. It's doesn't mean it didn't work this week, it won’t ever work again.”

Chad Cornes on the fitness of Lachie Jones and Jason Horne-Francis:

“I think (Lachie’s) scan came up really positive. I don't know exactly the availability for this week, but from my brief chat to the physios, he's in contention to play this way. (Jason Horne-Francis) that was definitely just a bit of cramp. He was a little worried when he came off that he might have done something but yeah scans and follow up consults with the physios today just showed it was pretty cramped so he should definitely be (available).

Chad Cornes on whether he expects Charlie Dixon to return after being rested at the weekend:

“Charlie was a little bit sick. And as Kenny said, that was a planned rest week for him. He had a bit of an ankle, he got sick during the week so it worked really well, for him to miss that game. And, yeah, he's already put his hand up this morning and he's raring to get back into it.”

Chad Cornes on what he has made of St Kilda so far this season:

“They've got Higgins in really good form. They’re a better team I think than the result they just had, some of their running backs can be really damaging so that's something we'll have to be aware of. They’ve got Wilkie who is a really good key defender and Dougal Howard coming back in after a bit of a layoff as well, so I feel like they're a really well coached team, really disciplined team and I'd expect better than what they showed in their last outing, that's for sure so we'll prepare really well for them.”