PUTTING aside the drama surrounding Stuart Dew's future as Gold Coast coach, the even bigger question entering Saturday night's trip to face Port Adelaide revolves around the Suns saving their season.

Of course, the two issues are linked; if Gold Coast gets on a roll and forces its way towards the top eight, Dew's future will be secured.

But are the Suns a chance of doing that?

Currently 12th on the ladder, one win and almost 12 per cent behind eighth-placed Essendon, they would have to win a minimum of five and likely six of the remaining eight matches to play finals for the very first time.

It's a tall order.

Looking ahead in the fixture, which is always fraught with danger given form changes every two to three weeks, the Suns have just three matches remaining at their Heritage Bank Stadium home, against St Kilda, Brisbane and Carlton.

But here's how they can do it.

The Next Month

To have any chance, the next month must go well. Port Adelaide on Saturday, St Kilda a week later, Greater Western Sydney (who they're currently level with on points) in Canberra, and the Q-Clash against the Lions.

That's three teams currently in the top five, and all four currently sit above the Suns on the ladder.

To have a successful four-week block, the Suns need to create history and reverse some terrible records against these opponents since Dew arrived at the club in late 2017.

Since beating Port in 2011 to record the first win in club history, the Suns haven't beaten the Power once. Port has won the past 13 contests, including five with Dew in charge, although they just snuck home by two points in the corresponding game last season.

Gold Coast's record against the Saints is not much better having lost their past eight meetings, including all seven under Dew.

A 1-5 record against GWS with Dew in charge includes them having not once kicked more than 10 goals against the Giants.

And don't ask about the Lions; A 1-9 mark that includes losing the past nine in which they've only twice been within seven goals.

It's a heavy weight of history that Gold Coast will need to reverse to give themselves a chance. If they're still in the finals race after this month, they'll have earned it.

The Final Month

If they get through the next four weeks with two or three victories to keep the dream alive, the final month will become critical

Away to Adelaide, away to Sydney – who the Suns have a strong record against – home against Carlton and away to North Melbourne.

Tough, but possible to grab some wins.

Gold Coast is 2-5 away from home this season (not including the two 'home' matches in Darwin), recording wins against Richmond and West Coast, so it's not totally inconceivable they can snare wins on the road.

Touk's return

After nine matches on the sidelines due to knee surgery, co-captain Touk Miller is set to return.

As Dew said in his weekly press conference on Wednesday, the Suns can't expect Miller to do everything after such a long absence from senior football. But he'll inevitably add another layer of ball-winning and defensive run that was sadly missing against Collingwood last week.

In his absence, Gold Coast has discovered that Sam Flanders can spend time on-ball, as can Bailey Humphrey, who Jarrod Witts should look to target more regularly at forward 50 stoppages to take advantage of Humphrey's power.

Miller's return against Zak Butters, Connor Rozee, Ollie Wines and co on Saturday night could be perfect timing.

How can the Suns get it done?

To have any chance of getting on a roll, the Suns must return to their roots and revisit what has helped them win games in the past two years.

Against both the Magpies last week and Carlton two weeks earlier, it was unexpected midfield lapses that allowed the opposition to get on top and create havoc further afield.

Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson, Witts, Miller, David Swallow, Brayden Fiorini, Flanders and whoever else goes in there must get their balance right.

If they lose a clearance or two, they cannot afford to get sucked in and leave acres of space on the outside.

It comes down to trusting their teammates.

Forward of the ball, they need to use diversity. Too often against the Magpies, players in the middle of ground or on the defensive side of it looked to go long, rather than take a simple option to a teammate 20 or 30 metres away.

It became predictable and Collingwood were able to outnumber at the contest. Ben Ainsworth, Jack Lukosius, Flanders, Fiorini and now Miller are all clever at finding pockets of space, and they need to use them.

And perhaps above all else, they must play with belief. The fortnight in Darwin showed they were resilient as they overcame three and six-goal deficits against top eight teams, the Western Bulldogs and Adelaide, to notch morale-boosting wins.

Their best is good enough, but do they believe it, and can they execute?

Stuart Dew needs them to.