Port Adelaide vice-captain Ollie Wines says there's no "doom mindset" at his AFL club despite taking another beating from a top-four contender.
The Power sits in fifth spot on the ladder with only five losses - but four of those defeats have come against sides above them. The latest, a 31-point drubbing from Melbourne last Thursday night, followed earlier losses to the Western Bulldogs, Brisbane and Geelong.
"We are not in any way in a doom mindset," Wines told reporters on Thursday.
"We are fifth on the ladder. We are well and truly in the hunt for a top-four finish.
"We don't have to turn things around so much ... yes, we have been off our game against the top-four sides.
"But we have still won 11 games this year and we think we have a bit of momentum for the last six games.
"Particularly against those good sides, we are having lapses in games where we are getting tipped over and teams are running over us.
"It's still a technical thing of us not executing throughout a game. We have the cattle to get it done, it's about execution."
Wines called on his teammates to show their steel amid the ongoing absence of two key pieces of what the Power hope could be a premiership puzzle. Small forwards Robbie Gray (knee, four weeks) and recruit Orazio Fantasia (knee, three weeks) are still some time from returning to bolster Port's attack.
"Teams obviously figure you out after you have played a lot more games and there is a lot more vision to plan against you," he said.
"The other thing is, we are still missing a few pieces - Orazio Fantasia, Robbie Gray - really important forward pieces that create that ball movement and create those options throughout the corridor and centre of the ground.
"So we just need to knuckle down and get through until those guys are ready to come back to add their best parts of their game."
The Power are scheduled to play St Kilda in Melbourne on Saturday night but Wines said the club remained on standby for fixture changes because of coronavirus outbreaks.
"From the very first time this (coronavirus) started, we have made a point that we are going to be fluid and adjust to the situation," he said.
"We have done that and we are still open to that.
"We will do anything we can to keep the season running and give ourselves the best opportunity of having a crack at it in September."
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