Port Adelaide's AFL woes have been compounded with confirmation of knee surgery for ruckman Scott Lycett, while Charlie Dixon and Kane Farrell will also miss the round-21 clash with Geelong.
The 30-year-old Lycett was already set to sit out Saturday's game after reporting knee soreness in recent weeks.
He will have an operation to clean out the meniscus in his left knee, with his return date to be confirmed.
Forward Dixon (foot) and defender Farrell (illness) will also miss Saturday's clash with the Cats at GMHBA Stadium as the Power attempt to cling to second spot - they go into the weekend one win clear of the Brisbane Lions but with an inferior percentage.
Ollie Lord and Francis Evans will come into the side.
The developments come as Port grapple with a $100,000 fine handed to them on Friday morning by the AFL for their botched handling of Aliir Aliir's concussion management in last week's defeat by the Crows.
Port have also lost Mitch Georgiades (knee) for the season, while Aliir and Lachie Jones (both concussion) will miss at least a week.
Defending premiers Geelong likely need to win three of their last four games to play finals but coach Chris Scott was typically philosophical when asked about the effect of Port's plight.
"I find it so hard to be accurate in your estimation of where other teams are at," he said.
"The psychology part; are they going to be better because they've lost three in a row and feel they need to get back in form, or is it a sign they're off?
"And (despite their omissions) it's not as if they're bereft of options."
Scott was similarly aware of his own side's motivations after a loss to Fremantle last week left them on the verge of dropping out of the top eight in the final month of the home-and-away season.
"It's hard to get into every individual's head; some really thrive (under the pressure) ... others are burdened by that," he said of the narrative that three from four wins would ensure a finals berth.
"I'm not even sure I completely agree we need to win three.
"But if we're trying to hedge our bets and say we can afford to lose this one but not that one we're probably in the wrong mindset."
Esava Ratugolea and Mark O’Connor will replace the injured Mark Blicavs and Tom Hawkins, with Scott admitting the hamstrung pair were unique and the Cats' game plan would change as a result.
"I'd always prefer to have Hawkins in, I hope he plays until he's 40," Scott said.
"But there is some upside having a slightly different look in there."
