PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley insists the Power are as far away from earning back their desired respect from their rivals as when he was appointed coach in 2013.
The Power surged in Hinkley's first two seasons as coach, rebounding from second-last in 2012 to semi and preliminary final appearances.
But that momentum stalled in 2015, with the club missing the finals, and Port delivered an embarrassing Showdown performance last week, losing to its bitter rivals Adelaide by 58 points.
WATCH: Ken Hinkley's full post-match press conference
Friday night's 61-point win over Essendon was solid, but Hinkley delivered a sobering reflection of where he sees the club's position in the League.
"There's all parts of the game we'd like to improve on because we were nowhere near perfection [on Friday]," Hinkley said.
"Back in 2013, when we came together as a group, we talked about the one thing we wanted to do was earn some respect back for Port Adelaide.
"Well, I think we're just as far away from that respect today because of some of the expectations placed upon us.
"We want to make our supporters ... proud of the way we play consistently and at the moment we haven't been that."
While ultimately dissatisfied with Friday night's performance, Hinkley said there were a number of pleasing areas.
He praised the efforts of both Jared Polec and Jimmy Toumpas, the club's back six and key forward Charlie Dixon, as well as debutant Darcy Byrne-Jones.
So impressed was Hinkley with the 20-year-old's first senior game that he promised Byrne-Jones a second outing next weekend against Greater Western Sydney.
The coach was also quietly confident he could regain the services of star duo Hamish Hartlett and Chad Wingard for the Giants clash.
"We probably should get Hamish [Hartlett] and we probably should get Chad [Wingard] but they're not a lock, they're both coming off hamstring stuff that's a bit dicey.
"'Hammer' has missed two weeks and Chad was very, very close to playing probably this week but we didn't take that risk."
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The question of whether full-forward Jay Schulz also returns to the line up appears more complicated.
Schulz has missed the past two games after a chronic back injury flared up at training after the club's first-up win over St Kilda.
"We'll probably know Tuesday ... he's going to run tomorrow, he's going to train tomorrow, so if he gets through that OK, that will be positive," Hinkley said.
"I check with Jay [everyday]: 'How you feeling?' He's pretty positive about the way he's feeling but that doesn't mean [he doesn't have] a back injury that might need some work."
