STAR Port Adelaide ruckman Paddy Ryder and defender Tom Jonas could make shock returns for the Power’s game with the Western Bulldogs at Ballarat on Sunday.
Key defender Dougal Howard has been ruled out with a hand injury, while winger Karl Amon will miss two to three weeks with a knee injury.
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Ryder (hip flexor) and Jonas (knee) will be named in the Power’s extended 26-man squad on Thursday night.
"We'll see how they respond to their training today, but we're pretty confident they're going to play," Power coach Ken Hinkley told reporters on Thursday.
"I'm not in the habit of putting in fake news."
SCORING POWER PUMP UP Port to turn defence into attack
Untried ruckman Billy Frampton will also be in the squad and will debut if Ryder doesn’t get up.
The Power missed Ryder's influence in last Sunday's 22-point loss to Greater Western Sydney.
Key forward Charlie Dixon was used in the ruck in the first half, before Howard and midfielders Ollie Wines and Brad Ebert took on Giants big man Dawson Simpson, who dominated hit-outs to advantage 21-3 and gave his side a clear advantage in the clearance battle.
"We'll give Paddy every chance to come up," Hinkley said.
"He's recovered from his little hip flexor, which is the key.
"You've seen him training today and there's not too many issues with him currently.
"It's a matter of pulling up OK on Saturday and playing on Sunday."
Jonas' return is more surprising.
It was initially thought the 27-year-old – who is in All-Australian contention – would miss at least a month after having surgery on July 10 to remove a floating loose body from his knee joint.
But after missing the past two games and returning to running at the end of last week, Jonas is on track to lead the Power defence.
"Tommy has progressed a bit quicker than we thought," Hinkley said.
"He ran so well late last week and he's progressed again this week.
"He was moving pretty well at training today.
"If there's a significant risk we wouldn't do that, but he'll come on the plane."
Howard will miss one to two weeks with a hand injury, while Amon has damage to the medial ligament in his knee and will be out for at least two weeks.
Speedster Steven Motlop will also return after he was a late scratching from last week's loss to the Giants through illness.
Frampton was overlooked earlier in the season when Ryder was out with an Achilles injury, but Hinkley said he had improved significantly since then.
It also means the Power can keep Dixon as their focal point in attack where he's most effective.
"If I go back to rounds one to six, both our young rucks (Frampton and Peter Ladhams) were a bit off the pace," Hinkley said.
"We think they've progressed enough in the last six weeks where we feel that we're disrupting other stuff and we can probably protect (Dixon and Westhoff) a little more.
"Ladhams and Frampton had pretty positive games in the SANFL last week."
