CAM O'Shea, Aaron Young and Dom Cassisi have been named in Port Adelaide's team to host Essendon at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

They replace the injured Jackson Trengove and Alipate Carlile, and Sam Gray who has been omitted.

Preview: Power v Dons

The Power will require its strong defensive lineup, including regular role performers like Tom Jonas and Jack Hombsch, to fill the void left by key backs Trengove and Carlile.

"We've dealt without them both at separate times, but obviously not together in my time," senior coach Ken Hinkley told portadelaidefc.com.au.

"We did lose Jacko for a long period last year and didn't have Bobby in Round 1 this year, so we have dealt with at least one missing at times.

"It gives a guy like Cam O'Shea an opportunity, and people like Hombsch and Jonas - who've been really good for us - have to take on leadership roles for us.

"We're really confident and comfortable that those players we've got in this team will lead really strongly and play really hard."

Coming off its third loss for the season, the Power is eager to respond in front of a big home crowd at the Adelaide Oval.

Get your tickets to Saturday night's blockbuster

Ken Hinkley acknowledges the challenge posed by the Bombers, particularly being the most recent side to defeat the Crows and one that almost took honours against Geelong last week.

The Dons will also be fresh from an eight-day break, compared to the Power's six.

"The key thing is that this competition makes it hard to win every week, but it is important that you do respond if you have a performance below what you consider to be acceptable," Hinkley said.

"We believe we were unacceptable last week and we need to make sure we respond in a positive way against Essendon.

"If you look at form lines you'll see Essendon beat Adelaide and Adelaide beat us, so that makes it a really risky, difficult game for us.

"We just need to bring our best game and best performance, and give ourselves the best chance to get on the board and get the result we want."

Port Adelaide hosts Essendon at the Adelaide Oval at 7:10pm on Saturday night.

Port Adelaide Round 16 team v Essendon
FB: Cam O'Shea, Jack Hombsch, Dom Cassisi
HB: Matthew Broadbent, Tom Jonas, Jasper Pittard
C: Angus Monfries, Travis Boak, Kane Cornes
HF: Jared Polec, Justin Westhoff, Matt White
FF: Robbie Gray, Jay Schulz, Chad Wingard
Foll: Matthew Lobbe, Ollie Wines, Brad Ebert
Interchange: Hamish Hartlett, Jarman Impey, Kane Mitchell, Aaron Young

Emergencies: Tom Clurey, Ben Newton, Jake Neade

In: Cassisi, O'Shea, Young
Out: Carlile (hamstring), Trengove (ankle), S. Gray (omitted)

Essendon Round 16 team v Port Adelaide
FB: David Myers, Cale Hooker, Mark Baguely
HB: Courtenay Dempsey, Michael Hurley, Brendon Goddard
C: Travis Colyer, David Zaharakis, Brent Stanton
HF: Zach Merrett, Joe Daniher, Patrick Ambrose
FF: Jason Winderlich, Jake Carlisle, Paul Chapman
Foll: Patrick Ryder, Heath Hocking, Dyson Heppell
Interchange: Kyle Hardingham, Jackson Merrett, Ben Howlett, Jake Melksham

Emergencies: Orazio Fantasia, Elliott Cavanagh, Dustin Fletcher

In: Baguely, Winderlich
Out: Fletcher (omitted), Hibberd (ankle)