FREMANTLE coach Ross Lyon has confirmed All Australian Hayden Ballantyne will come straight back into the Dockers side to face Melbourne on Sunday after serving a two-match suspension.
Lyon said it was not a decision he took lightly given the form of his undefeated team.
However, he said Ballantyne was unfortunate to be suspended for his bump on Geelong's Harry Taylor in round two and that the small forward's performances over a long period of time warranted an immediate return.
"Ballantyne will play," Lyon said.
"He's definitely playing. From there there's bits and pieces to get through.
"It was not a decision we entered into lightly because there's going to be some disappointment somewhere.
"But he's stacked such a high level of commitment and performance over a long period of time, and we liaised with our leaders and really the whole playing group, and they were unanimous that he should play."
Lyon is confident Ballantyne would perform well off a two-week break.
"We don't expect miracles," Lyon said.
"We just expect him to do what he does, which is come and pressure the opposition extremely well, crumb some goals and see goals kicked in the forward half.
"It's a good addition, and it should help Michael Walters, who gets sat on pretty tightly."
Lyon said the Dockers could fly all 25 members of the squad to Melbourne on Friday afternoon as insurance.
Chris Mayne is battling through a corkie but Lyon said all his players were fit and ready to face the Demons.
"(Mayne's) fine, he's definitely playing," Lyon said.
"We have got no injury concerns. But we just need to get through training. But there's some sorer than others."
Lyon flew to Melbourne last Friday night to watch the Demons play live at the MCG and he was very impressed with what he saw.
"Paul (Roos) really instills the fundamentals of the game, which is contest and pressure and everyone has acknowledged that they have really improved their offensive capabilities," Lyon said.
"They are the number one tackling team in the AFL and that says it all. I showed our players footage of them competing fiercely so we expect a fierce challenge and one we are up for by the way."
Bernie Vince could be set to run with Fremantle star Nat Fyfe to try and quell his influence.
Lyon was asked whether he would need to speak to Fyfe about keeping his cool amidst the physical attention that may come his way.
"No I wouldn't have thought so," Lyon said.
"Nat's a big boy. We're all big boys. We can all look after ourselves. I just think he competes fiercely, Bernie Vince. You've got to admire that. He's leading from the front. We take no backward steps. We'll just see what happens."
