PORT ADELAIDE superstar Robbie Gray says Saturday’s blockbuster against Geelong provides the ideal opportunity for his side to respond following its poor showing against Essendon on Sunday.

The Power meets the Cats in its only Saturday night home fixture for the season in a special ANZAC Round clash.

The Cats are coming off a dominant win over St Kilda after consecutive narrow losses, while the Power suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of the Bombers.

“It’s a massive game for us, we need to respond after the disappointing performance on the weekend,” Gray said.

“The numbers stacked up ok on the weekend, we just probably didn’t stand up under the pressure as much as we would have liked.

“To Essendon’s credit they put an enormous amount of pressure on us and we coughed the footy up a bit.”

Gray said his side looks forward to the ANZAC Round game each year, admitting the minute silence in the minutes before the first bounce was particularly moving.

“There’s always a pretty big build-up, I know it’s a special night for the club and we always look forward to playing in big games,” he said.

“Geelong are coming over and it should be a big crowd here.

“We know Geelong are a super team and have been for a long time so it’s going to be a big challenge.”

Gray was at his brilliant best in the loss to the Bombers, racking up a game-high 39 disposals to go with 10 clearances playing predominantly in the midfield.

“Feeling as fit as ever, the body is feeling good,” he said.

“I played on the ball a bit on the weekend and got in there a bit more.

“When you don’t come away with the result it’s pretty disappointing.”

The Geelong clash could see the return of midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper after he completed a club-imposed one-match ban for breaching team rules.

Gray said he would welcome the 20-year-old back in the side, pending the outcome of an AFL investigation into his alleged behaviour.

"We love having him out there," Gray said.

"His contested ball work and the pressure he puts on the opposition is super, so we love playing with him but I’m sure Kenny and the other coaches will decide whether he will play later in the week.

"It's been really tough with all the attention on him but he's copped his week suspension and he's got to move on now and get on with things.”

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