Five players could return to the Cats line up to face Port Melbourne.

Coach Leigh Tudor said last night Nathan Ablett was one of five players in line to return this week.

Tim Callan, Kane Tenace and Simon Hogan are all big chances to play, while Ryan Gamble remains in doubt after being a late withdrawal last week.

Liam Bedford will miss again, but is expected to return after the VFL bye in two weeks’ time.

“All those five are up for selection, except Bedford, they all just have to get through the main training session tomorrow and if they do they will play,” Tudor said.

The potential inclusions will be a welcome return for the second-placed Cats, given they are expecting to field a top-heavy line up.

“We’re a pretty tall side, so we’d prefer to be playing on a bigger ground, but (the smaller TEAC Oval) is where we’re playing, but we’ve played well there before so I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t again,” Tudor said.

Jason Davenport was scintillating last week, giving the Cats plenty of penetration through the midfield and Tudor hopes the speedy wingman will continue his form this week.

“He’s been playing some pretty good football and he’s been winning a lot of his own ball and winning a lot of one-on-one contests, it’s a tighter ground, so it will be good to see him in those one-on-one contests again,” he said.

Port Melbourne has been a consistent outfit this season, sitting in sixth position with six wins from 13 matches.

After collecting the wooden spoon last year with a list devoid of height and experience, they recruited heavily in the off-season, landing the services of several experienced players.

Former Geelong midfielder David Spriggs is a playing assistant coach, while Luke Livingston and John Baird head the list of former AFL players forging a VFL career.

So far this season, the off-season groundwork has translated into on-field results, as the Borough has only resided outside the top eight once this season.

Jeremy Dukes looms at the side’s key avenue to attack, with 34 goals for the year, while Sam Pleming and Julian Rowe have been leading the way this season.

Tudor said the match posed a challenge to the Cats, who are desperate to rebound.

“We haven’t had the best record at Port Melbourne and they’ve got some good players in their side,” he said.

“I know we’ve got some players back, but we’re still going to have to play some pretty good football - they’re pretty keen to make the finals as a standalone club.

The Cats were hamstrung in the second half against Casey last week, when Steven King and Shannon Byrnes were rested in the last quarter as a result of the five-day turn around, while Chris Urie, Matthew Spencer and Henry Playfair were hit by injury.

Despite a six-day turnaround between the Cats’ VFL match this Sunday and the Fremantle match next Saturday, Tudor does not expect any players will be rested in the final quarter this week.

“No, I wouldn’t think so,” he said.

“We only did that last week because of the five-day turnaround … but I wouldn’t expect to have to take players off this week.”

The action gets underway at 2pm on Sunday.