FREMANTLE goalsneak Hayden Ballantyne admits he misses his "little mate" Michael Walters, but hopes the pair will be reunited at the tail-end of the season.
Walters is facing a race against time to be fit for the finals after badly damaging his ankle against Hawthorn in round three.
Ballantyne and Walters forged a reputation as the competition's best small forward combination last year, with the pair booting 80 goals between them.
Their frantic pressure also caused all sorts of havoc for opposition defences.
Walters is now in a moon boot after ditching his crutches, and Ballantyne hopes the 23-year-old will be back on the park shortly before the finals.
"He's a massive element to our forward line with his pressure and nous around goal," Ballantyne said.
"You give him half a second and he'll kick a goal nine times out of 10.
"If one of us is off, the other one picks up the slack. And we bring each other into the game.
"He's tracking pretty well. I've been asking him the question how he's feeling. He seems pretty confident."
Ballantyne starred with three goals in last week's 32-point win over Geelong.
The 26-year-old played the game against medical advice after undergoing a procedure to fix his fractured cheekbone just four days earlier.
Although most of the pain has since subsided, the injury is still causing Ballantyne some annoyance.
"It's more so my teeth now," Ballantyne said.
"Once I can start eating better, that will be good for me. I'm starving."
Ballantyne drew the wrath of coach Ross Lyon earlier this year after copping a one-match suspension for two ill-disciplined acts against the Sydney Swans.
"It's more having to deal with Ross the next day that's not very nice," Ballantyne said.
The Dockers sit at 5-4 heading into this week's break.
Last year's grand finalists have the chance to boost their top-four hopes over the next nine rounds when they take on a host of teams sitting in the bottom half of the ladder.
However, Ballantyne said the Dockers won't be fooled into complacency.
"There's no such thing as an easy game," he said.
"If you're five per cent off, you'll get rolled.
"We've got to prepare like we're playing against Hawthorn or Geelong."
