GEELONG is hopeful that both James Kelly and Rhys Stanley escaped serious injury in Friday night's impressive 23-point win over Port Adelaide.
Click here for full match coverage and stats
Kelly was subbed out of the game in the opening term after he was tackled by Ollie Wines while trying to clear the ball from deep in defence.
He twisted his ankle in the tackle, and while he’s likely to undergo scans to determine the extent of any damage, Cats coach Chris Scott wasn't overly concerned after the game.
Stanley was playing the match of his career (17 disposals, two goals, 24 hit-outs, six clearances) when he was forced from the field late in the third term.
Again, Scott hoped he was simply benched in time for the injury to remain minor.
Click here to watch Chris Scott's full post-match press conference
"It's been reported Kelly's got a knee issue; it's actually an ankle, and hopefully it's not on the serious end of the scale," Scott said.
"I couldn't really give you much more information than that.
"Stanley's got a foot – hopefully that was caught quickly enough for it not to be a big issue."
The Cats were terrific in the second half as they slowly but surely pulled away from the Power, kicking four of the final five goals of the game.
With little separating the two sides statistically, Scott put his side's victory down to players taking their chances in front of goal.
Stanley snapped a terrific goal early, while sub Shane Kersten and Steven Motlop also kicked two goals each.
"We were thinking right up until the last couple of minutes that there was a way for us to lose the game," Scott said.
"The guys who got their chance to finish around goal did so really well.
"The way Motlop and Kersten were able to kick goals really helped us."
Scott described the win as an "important message" to the club's supporter base that it will continue fighting while also trying to turn over its playing list.
The coach praised his club's veterans – Corey Enright was best afield on Friday night – but at the same time was thrilled with what his younger players were producing.
"I think the jury's still out [on us] – I think it's an important message to our supporters that we're up for the fight," he said.
"We have a level of optimism that if things go right for us, we can compete with anyone.
"We do have a big group of more experienced players … for a long time [our supporters] went to the footy with a really clear picture of what they were going to get from (Jimmy) Bartel and (James) Kelly and (Harry) Taylor and Enright.
"Those guys are still playing pretty well, but I think there's a new level of excitement when they see (Cory) Gregson and (Darcy) Lang and (Nakia) Cockatoo."
