PORT ADELAIDE forward Jack Watts has issued a rallying call to his side against those who have written them off, saying the Power possesses enough talent and toughness to not only make finals, but do some damage once there.

The Power has slipped to eighth on the ladder after consecutive heartbreaking losses to Adelaide and West Coast but should guarantee a finals berth with wins in its last two games to Collingwood and Essendon.

Watts told portadelaidefc.com.au that despite the negativity externally, within the club there is a sense of opportunity ahead of Saturday’s clash against the Magpies.

“It’s a massive, massive game that we need to win,” he said.

“We touched on how devastating it was and what we got wrong at the end of the games but from there we’ve moved on really quickly and we see it as a great opportunity.

“The coaches have been great in terms of their positivity and we’re looking at these next two weeks as a huge chance to set our season up and go forward into a finals campaign.

“It’s been a really good week, we’ve trained well, we’re feeling good so now we just need to bring it on Saturday at the MCG.”

A season-ending injury to big forward Charlie Dixon “added salt to the wound” and there is also some doubt over Dan Houston, Paddy Ryder and Jared Polec.

But Watts said his side knew it could still win games and make finals.

“Our backs are against the wall but we’ve still got so much more to give,” he said.

“We’re certainly not out of it and stranger things have happened and we’ve got a huge opportunity this week and the week after to give ourselves a chance of going on and having a successful finals series.

“Everyone can write us off as much as they want… but we know we’ve got enough talent, enough grit and toughness in our team, even without Charlie who is out for the year.

“We know we can still do it.”

Watts is poised to play an important role in Dixon’s absence, although he has predicted a restructuring of the forward line and a rethinking of how the ball is used going forward.

“Obviously without Charlie we won’t have a big boy down there to just kick it high and he can take on three or four,” he said.

“We might have to change the way we go forward and lower our eyes a bit and hopefully I can get involved in that.”

After being dropped to the SANFL earlier in the season, the Melbourne recruit has retained his spot in the AFL side with a focus on getting into better positions and making more contests.

He doesn’t think his role will change much this weekend, despite the lack of tall options in the Power’s forward line.

“We’ve probably got a few options we can move forward, even if Justin Westhoff comes back forward or Dougal Howard can play forward,” Watts said.

“If Paddy plays, or even if he doesn’t we can bring Billy Frampton in so we’ve got a lot of options.

“My role, I might play a bit more time deep, which will be nice but at the same time I’ll still play up the ground a bit and try to get the ball in the middle of the ground and connect us going forward.”

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