FREMANTLE coach Mark Harvey says despite the club's injury woes, he has his best backline available for Friday night's crunch game against St Kilda as the team looks to preserve its place in the top eight.
Key defender Luke McPharlin will return from a one-match suspension to take on star Saint Nick Riewoldt at Etihad Stadium, and Alex Silvagni is in top form after holding Hawthorn spearhead Lance Franklin goalless last Saturday.
Fremantle has concerns in the ruck and midfield, having only generated 34 forward entries against the Hawks, but Harvey threw his support behind the back six ahead of Friday night's crucial clash.
"From a defensive point of view, we've probably got our best available defence at the moment, so it's a pretty good challenge for those guys down there," the coach said from Fremantle Oval on Wednesday.
"The little forwards are kicking a lot of goals, whether it's [Adam] Schneider, [Brett] Peake, [Leigh] Montagna, and their midfielders can kick goals as well. They've got good avenues.
"We'll see whether we can contain their scoring and put the pressure on."
Aaron Sandilands has been ruled out for the Saints clash, but he is running and Harvey said the star ruckman would push for selection against Carlton at Patersons Stadium next week.
"As we know, it's a recurring injury," the coach said. "I've got to make sure that if it's three or four weeks, that he plays for the remainder of the season and hopefully beyond."
Sandilands' usual replacement, Jon Griffin, was withdrawn late against the Hawks with a hip injury and he will be assessed at Wednesday night's main training session.
Young runner Nick Suban will be available after missing last week with soreness following his return from a broken leg, but Fremantle will have to replace injured stopper Matt de Boer, who has effectively been ruled out for the season with a knee injury.
"It's a different position and it does get mixed up at times, the role that he (de Boer) plays, but the desperation of what he does is probably the hardest thing we need to replace," Harvey said.
Fremantle travels to Melbourne on the back of consecutive six-day breaks and Harvey said the team had trained briefly this week ahead of Wednesday night's main session.
"From a strategy and preparation point of view, we've got a good handle of things and we'll finish it off tonight with a good training session," the coach said.
"It's the first time we've played at Etihad this year, so that'll be interesting from our point of view."
Nathan Schmook covers Fremantle news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_NSchmook
