PORT ADELAIDE coach Ken Hinkley expects veteran utility Justin Westhoff to be back in the side soon as the side enters a busy period of four games in 16 days.

Westhoff was left out of the side to face St Kilda on Saturday night, with Hinkley saying it was for form reasons.

The 2018 John Cahill Medallist has played every game this season but Hinkley explained he had struggled to make an impact on his last two.

“Westy’s form hasn’t been as good as we’d like it to be,” Hinkley said during a press conference on Friday.

“He’ll come back, he’ll bounce back and we’ve got a challenging period coming up so he’ll play a part in that no doubt.

“Westy knows his game is as a true utility so wherever we need him, we need him to play that role better and at the moment it’s as a forward/ruckman and he hasn’t been able to influence the game in those two areas, and we think we’ll look at some other options.”

The Saints enjoyed their first win in eleven attempts at Adelaide Oval on Monday night over the Crows and sit seventh on the ladder, two wins behind the first-placed Power.

But they will have a couple of players very familiar with Port and the venue in defender Dougal Howard and ruckman Paddy Ryder, who each crossed to St Kilda at the end of 2019.

Hinkley said those players were just part of a very balanced Saints line-up that would be hard to beat.

“They’re both great players, they’re both fantastic people and been good players for our footy club over the journey but they’re both opposition players now so we’re looking to beat them,” he said.

“They’ll be no different, they’ll be looking to beat us and we’ll do everything we can to make sure they lose.

“I think they’re a really balanced team. They’ve got some key backs, some key forwards, they’re a really balanced team I reckon and Ratts (coach Brett Ratten) has done a really good job with the way they’re going at the moment.

“Our challenge is to not narrow our focus too much on St Kilda or too much on any individual player but to make sure our focus is fairly and squarely on us and what we’ve got.”

Port has made three changes to the side which beat Carlton after the siren last Saturday with the injured Ryan Burton and Steven Motlop joining Westhoff on the sidelines.

In their place, Brad Ebert returns from suspension and Riley Bonner and Mitch Georgiades have earned recalls.

Hinkley said his side had a belief and confidence in its game plan to overcome the personnel changes.

“We’re confident,” he said. “We’ve been able to play good footy so far for six of the seven games and we’ve got belief in the way we play.

“We know how good St Kilda are, we were able to see them early this week on Monday so it’s a good chance to see where we are at.

“The competition has thrown up so many different things and for us this week being home is a bit unusual so it’ll be interesting to see how we handle that.”

It will be the first time since Round 2 that Port Adelaide plays at home.

That time only 2,000 people were allowed to attend but the easing of COVID-19 restrictions will mean around 20,000 will be on hand on Saturday night to cheer on the home side.

“We’re just grateful to have 20,000 here, we’ve been to games when nobody’s been allowed so any number is a real win and for Port people, I think there might be a handful of tickets left for the right members to come along and see us play,” Hinkley said.

“The Port fans will be loud, it’ll feel like it’s 50 (thousand supporters) when we get here tomorrow night, it’ll be loud and that’s exciting for everyone.

“Our players are looking forward to the opportunity.”

Port tackles St Kilda from 7:10pm on Saturday night.