Port Adelaide accept the odds do not favour a Power AFL victory over an indomitable Geelong at Skilled Stadium on Sunday.

Though they were the last club to beat the Cats at home, in a round 21 thriller in 2007, Port have bumped along an unsteady path since then, influenced hugely by the record, 119-point hiding the Cats subsequently dished out to the Power in the grand final.

Port's coach Mark Williams star was never brighter in the lead-up to that match, but his influence at Alberton and standing around the league has faded somewhat since, while mentoring a side that has slipped noticeably as the Cats drove ever-forward, stopped only briefly by Hawthorn in the 2008 grand final.

Now Williams goes to Geelong knowing there is a slight chance it will be his last game in charge, with a hefty defeat unlikely to aid his cause.

Still, Williams did not gild the lily when questioned on how Port might manage to kick a winning score with stars like Daniel Motlop and Shaun Burgoyne still confined to the treatment table.

"For a start, Geelong don't let you go inside-50m very often and when they do, it's pretty hard to score," Williams said.

"If you look at the odds, you'd say we can't kick enough goals (without Motlop), but we're going down there with a positive mindset.

"Our players are aware that we were the last team to beat them down there.

"Geelong hasn't been beaten there for a couple of years, so it's bloody hard don't worry about that."

Port's selections for the match, which follows two weeks of introspection that sprung from a 93-point thumping by the Western Bulldogs in Darwin, again allowed the likes of Peter Burgoyne, Danyle Pearce, Michael Pettigrew and Brett Ebert to escape the axe.

This is despite the fact they have shown little of the form that had them so highly regarded in 2007.

Classy link-man Steve Salopek has been demoted, largely because he has been unable to find confidence since returning from a shoulder injury, and former Cat Jason Davenport is among the inclusions.

But Williams said that there remained no sense in wholesale changes.

"In the past three years we have changed our list the most of all AFL clubs - 50 per cent," he said.

"You do leave yourself exposed. There are 10 not ready to play or not in good form.

"You can chuck a seasoned player of 100 games out and put someone in who has not played but if they are not in good form it does not make sense."

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