PORT ADELAIDE senior assistant coach Michael Voss is expecting the return of injured trio Charlie Dixon, Ollie Wines and Brad Ebert sooner rather than later.
Voss couldn’t confirm whether any of the three would return for Saturday night’s blockbuster with Geelong at Adelaide Oval, but was confident they would be back in the side soon.
“Clearly Charlie (Dixon), Ollie (Wines) and Ebo (Ebert) are obviously in our best 22 players,” Voss said at a press conference on Tuesday morning.
“It’s not a matter of if they come back, it’s when.
“Charlie is probably a little different to the other two, where he’s had a bit more a limited preparation, so that will be discussed but I say it’s a fairly strong chance that he will come back.”
The 43-year-old has been impressed with Dixon’s form in the SANFL over the past fortnight, with the key forward booting eight goals from his two games.
“The expectation is, he gets up and down the ground like any other forward,” Voss said.
“He certainly looks fantastic in what he’s been able to do, and he’s had parts of his game in the Magpies where he has got up the field, then parked himself deeper.
“We will expect both if he plays this week. It’s probably more around his normal role, but we also can’t be one dimensional.”
Voss was also extremely impressed with co-captain Ollie Wines - 32 touches against Sturt and 38 touches against Norwood - and Brad Ebert.
“Ollie has now had two really strong weeks,” he said.
“He was really impressive on the weekend. Almost got stronger as the game went.
“I’d probably say the same about Ebo. They just got better the longer the game progressed.
“If we have to put them in there, then we are confident they will be right to go.”
The Brownlow Medallist believes his side is playing a brand of football that can compete with anyone, but knows they must show it for longer periods in games.
“We’ve shown the capacity but we have to do it for longer,”
“I understand there has been a focus on our first quarters, but the last two weeks our first quarters have been good and our last quarter this week wasn’t so flash.
“We feel like we have a strong brand that can really mix it with any side, but the thing we need to make sure we get is that over the entire four quarters.
“When you play against any opposition - but certainly against the best, then we need to make sure we are on for the entire game.”
The Power host the Cats on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval, with the first bounce at 7.10pm.
