Senior coach Dean Cox appeared in a weekly press conference on Thursday morning. See what he had to say on the dramatic win over St Kilda, injuries, potential returns and preparation for Port Adelaide.

On Jai Sarong's match-winner vs St Kilda

“It was a well-executed plan that the players did. I think that's what you want to see, experienced, certainly midfielders, and also Jai's played a lot of footy, he assessed the situation really well and then executed it extremely well."

On how impactful a close come-from-behind win can be for the squad

“I think it's really important. There's lessons we're going to learn all the way throughout the year. What the season looks like from that, and then we need to have belief that no matter what sides do and play against us a certain way, that we can actually get the job done.”

“St Kilda were phenomenal, they played a really good, tough, brand of footy, like we expected them to, and it was always going to take all 120 minutes.”

On the second half versus St Kilda

“I thought the second half of the game was just a real contest. It was a real high-pressure, contested brand of footy, and it was just good that we lent into that space."

“I think one thing there, long down the line, balls and plays that we had to try and manage as well as we possibly could, and to the players' credit, they adjusted and adapted to what the game demanded.”

On Justin McInerney’s injury

“He's flat, obviously, with probably the news being a little bit worse than what he thought throughout the game. Unfortunately he's out for a sustained period of time, and like all good leaders and professional athletes do, he'll prepare as well as he can, and he'll be around the boys as much as he possibly can to make sure that we're still performing at a level where we need to.” 

On when Tom McCartin could return

“He's going well, he's been in the footy club all the way through the week.

"He's healthy, he's responded well, and he's just now working through some protocols, and we'll hopefully build towards some training next week and assess him from there.”

On missing personnel and who is going to step up.

“With the next person that comes in, I think that's something we've spoken about as a footy club for a long period of time, is the ability to be able to replace injured players or any role that we're after.”

“That's something that we always want to make sure that we're known for is that we spend a lot of time with our VFL team and everyone on our list about the way we want to play, and they certainly understand now what Port Adelaide are going to throw at us, but we also need them to understand that they're in the team for a reason and perform that role really well.”

On Taylor Adams' return to action via the VFL

“Taylor will play this weekend [for the VFL side], which is good. He's had a tough run with injuries, so he'll get his chance to go up and play Southport.”

On Port Adelaide 

“I think the way they defend the ground. They're one of the best teams, obviously restricting opposition ball movement. Their scores per inside 50, their intercept possessions behind the ball are really important as well and the calibre of players that they certainly have around the ball.”

“They're a dangerous team, and they've shown [that] throughout [the season]. They've beaten Geelong by 30 points at the Adelaide Oval. They were a point off beating Adelaide. They were good last week against West Coast away from home.”

On what to expect from Port Adelaide

“Under a new coach, their identity to us is pretty clear. We need to make sure that we're aware of that, and our players are aware of it. We spent a lot of time on Port Adelaide this morning, and then get a chance to train about what they try and do and how we can try and combat it.”