THE Port Adelaide Magpies will be hoping to atone for a 32-point loss to West Adelaide earlier this season when they meet the Bloods again on Saturday.

The Magpies are out of contention for the SANFL finals with three games left in the regular season, while West still holds a faint hope of sneaking in despite losing its last two matches.

Port coach Matthew Lokan says his side owes West one.

“They’ve been a bit inconsistent with their form like us,” he told portadelaidefc.com.au ahead of the rematch at Richmond Oval on Saturday afternoon.

“But looking at their list they’ve got a really strong team. They get Middleton and Wilson back this week and they’re guys who play key forward and key back.

“With other guys like Porplyzia and Beech and Rankine, Bates, Kane Stevens who is one of the best players in the competition, they gave us a bit of a touch up last time we played at Alberton so we need to go there with a really positive mindset and turn that result around.”

The Magpies have been beset by injury with Emmanuel Irra and Joe Atley the latest to join the injury list.

But Lokan says that will allow more opportunity for some of his SANFL listed players, including small forward Michael Ortiz who will make his league debut.

The 19-year-old is among four inclusions, along with Mitch Mead, Dale Finnie, and the AFL-listed Sam Gray.

“He’s been really consistent in the reserves, he’s been in the emergencies a couple of times,” Lokan said of Ortiz.

“There’s not much of him in height but he’s pretty determined to play at the level and he certainly gives his all every time he plays.

“He’ll play as a small pressure forward and hopefully he can snag a few goals.”

For Lokan it has been an encouraging season given his young list.

He has challenged his side to continue to learn, develop and grow in its remaining matches, but he hasn’t lost sight of winning.

“We want to win, that’s the Port Adelaide way,” he said.

“You go into every game thinking you can win and we expect to win but we certainly need to see some improvement.

“There are ten guys who are first year in our program that are all 18 or 19 years of age.

“To be able to get those guys to perform consistently at league level is important for us and will help us going forward.”

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