PORT Adelaide coach Mark Williams is confident his team is “moving in the right direction” despite sitting 12th on the ladder with just three wins.

At the start of the year, Williams noted the Power might have to go backwards, in terms of wins, in order to go forward as a club and, on Monday, he declared there were some positive signs for Port Adelaide’s future.

“We know we’re progressing and the win-loss ratio might not seem that way, but the style of game we played against Sydney on the weekend was exactly the way we want to play,” Williams said.

“I tell you, if you watched the game, it was one of the best games we’ve ever played. I thought it was a fantastic game and it was great for the supporters who got there.

“We got a lot of positives out of it. To play Sydney at their own game and to equal them in the tackles, hardball-gets and clearances and to beat them at the inside 50s, it was just a great game.

“A little bit of luck and we would’ve won it.”

The Power made a mockery of the self-proclaimed ‘Revolution’ taking place at Alberton last year by qualifying for the Grand Final, but this season’s 3-6 start has reaffirmed a need for patience at Port Adelaide.

Williams said some of the club’s second-tier players, who helped the Power reach dizzying heights last season, had not progressed as quickly as hoped in 2008.

“We thoroughly deserved that position [second] last year, but just because you finished where you did last year, it doesn’t mean it will just happen again,” Williams said.

“It’s not our absolute junior players, but the ones who have played between 40-80 games, who probably haven’t taken a big step. They probably played their best year-ever last year and to think that they are going to double that again, it’s a difficult task.

“They are going along, but probably not quite as quickly as we hoped.

“When you add those little factors together [with injuries and suspensions], you get losing four or five games by three goals or less. If you turn them around the other way, we win.

“As a club, we’re progressing and we’re getting more games into those young guys. As I said, after Saturday’s game, even if it’s not this minute or this year, the team is going to be so much more solid going forward.”

The Power, who have already faced Geelong, Adelaide, Hawthorn and Sydney (twice), are now preparing for a must-win month of football against lowly ranked teams like Fremantle, Richmond, Carlton and also another rematch with Geelong.

Star forward Brett Ebert walked unaided at Alberton on Monday and is still a chance to make the trip to WA to play Fremantle on Sunday. Rugged onballer Matt Thomas, who has been sidelined with plantar fascia, is also rated as a ‘test’.

On Saturday night Williams conceded he was worried about his team’s finals aspirations, but has refused to give up hope.

“I think, in six out of the opening nine games, we’ve played top-eight sides from last year, which was always going to be tough,” he said.

“We’ve still got some sort of chance of making the eight. I can imagine the odds makers are twisting the dial out a little for our team, but stranger things have happened.

“If anyone has done any close analysis of how we’re playing and the way we’ve played against the best sides in the competition, you would say that we’re moving in the right direction, so we’ll have to just wait and see.”