PORT ADELAIDE coach Ken Hinkley has confirmed ruckman Peter Ladhams will return to the side for tomorrow’s clash with Essendon after serving his three-week suspension for breaching the AFL’s COVID-19 protocols.

Last week Dan Houston came back into the side after completing his suspension for his part in the breaches and Hinkley used a press conference on Friday to reveal Ladhams would do the same.

The Port coach said the 202cm big man had done all he could to atone for his mistake but the test would be on the field.

“We want him in the team as best we can and we think he’s part of the team going forward but he has to play well,” Hinkley said.

“There’s no secret recipes as to how you win back the trust.

“You do your job and you be reliable and Pete’s done that, and Dan did that and anyone else who’s made mistakes.

“They know they let their teammates down. Their best opportunity to get their trust totally back is by gameday performance.”

Ladhams will be one of three changes with the injured Ryan Burton dropping out along with Zak Butters (suspension) and Cam Sutcliffe (omitted).

Brad Ebert and Riley Bonner, who were dropped for the win over North Melbourne last week, also come back in.

Burton is expected to be available for the first week of finals after resuming running on Friday.

Hinkley and his men have struggled to change external opinion that they are not premiership contenders – not that it bothers anyone at Alberton.

He admitted his side had not been at its best in recent weeks but said confidence was building for his ladder-leading side.

“Your outcomes are clear for everyone to see and you have to absolutely perform at your best to perhaps change opinions,” Hinkley said.

“We get that they’re opinions and we’re confident our best can be as good as anybody, in fact I know it is, we’ve done it all year so we’ve got some great confidence in our season’s performance, not just in a week or two.

“But we look forward to playing our best game of the year tomorrow and hopefully that’ll give us confidence.

“Football is brutal and hard to win all the time and we’ve done an amazing job to be 12 (wins) and three (losses) in a competition that’s really hard to do it in.

“There’s not many teams that have been 12 and three at this stage of the year.”

Hinkley said he was still to settle on his best side ahead of finals, and he revealed nobody was out of selection considerations.

“I’m going to leave the door wide open to anyone who wants to crash the door down,” he said.

“If you can do that, you give yourself a chance. It’s not going to be today or tomorrow or the next day, it’s going to be right until the last day we play, everyone is going to have to earn their spot.”

The side’s first test is at Adelaide Oval against the Bombers on Saturday.

They’re a side which Hinkley said featured real power and would trouble anyone when they’re at their best.

“They’ve been really good at times and they’ve had some moments where they haven’t been,” he said.

“We know that their best will beat anyone and they’ve probably got their most powerful team out there at the moment with (Joe) Daniher in the side, (Jake) Stringer in the side – so they’ve got some real power back in the side.

“They’re growing and every team has their challenges and they’ve had a couple in the last few weeks.

“The danger of a side like Essendon is that their weapons are so strong so if you give them a look you’re going to be in trouble.”

There has been an element of fun at Alberton in recent weeks, starting with when the coaches took training wearing the club’s iconic lace-up prison bar guernseys.

On Friday it was the turn of the players, who turned up wearing guernseys from their formative years.

“It’s always great to remember where you come from,” Hinkley said, joking that some players struggled to fit in their old guernseys.

“We’re always trying to keep the environment healthy and healthy comes with a bit of laughter and for our blokes getting their old kits out and remembering where they’re from is just a good moment and I’m sure they did sit in there this morning and have some fond memories of when they put those jumpers on.

“Hopefully they’ll have another opportunity with another jumper tomorrow to create some more memories.”

He also revealed the drum used by Hamish Hartlett during the team song after the win over the Roos last Saturday night might reappear.

“It only comes out in victory so if they want it out tomorrow night, they need to win,” Hinkley laughed.

“If we keep winning, I don’t mind if we have an orchestra there by the end of it, as long as we keep winning.

“It’s great that you can see the human side of the game and the celebration, that’s really important.

“This game is really hard and those moments you share in victory are really special moments and anything you add to it – I know the Port people love seeing us celebrate victory – as long as they like it, we’re happy.”