ESSENDON great Matthew Lloyd says Port Adelaide should take veteran forward Charlie Dixon out of the senior side for a month to improve his fitness for the second half of the season.

Dixon was subbed out in the third quarter of Thursday night's loss to Carlton after having just one disposal and two tackles.

While the 33-year-old had an off night, young forward Mitch Georgiades kicked four goals and had nine marks in a standout performance, while Todd Marshall kicked a goal and had four marks.

Lloyd says Dixon looks like he is "getting around on one leg" and needs some time away from the game to restore his body for later in the year.

"If I was (coach) Ken (Hinkley), I would say to Charlie, 'you're going to go with fitness staff for a month and just do conditioning and agility and speed'. Because he's getting around on one leg," Lloyd told AFL.com.au's Access All Areas.

"You can try and sharpen him up a bit and not send him out like he's on his last legs every single time.

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"And then see what Marshall and Georgiades can do. This is your forward line for the next month, can that take them further than what Dixon and the others are doing?"

Dixon's performance against the Blues came after he was managed from the round 11 win over North Melbourne having also been rested for the round six loss to Collingwood.

He was also subbed out in the final quarter of the win over Geelong in round nine.

The veteran has been plagued by injury in recent years and played just 14 games in 2023 after managing just 12 the season before.

Charlie Dixon is tackled by Mark Keane during the match between Adelaide and Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval in round eight, 2024. Picture: Getty Images

Hinkley said Dixon didn't suffer an injury on Thursday night and the decision to sub him off was purely tactical to bring fellow tall Jeremy Finlayson into the game.

"It was tactical. We knew we were coming the game with an extra tall forward as the sub," Hinkley said.

"We thought we might be able to get Carlton on the ground at times. It didn't quite work the way we would have liked, but it has previously."

The Power have the bye this weekend and are hopeful small forward Willie Rioli will be fit to face Greater Western Sydney in round 14.