However, the Dockers' other small forward, Michael Walters, is still a couple of weeks away, despite being back on the track.

Walters, who has not played since injuring his ankle in round three, trained on Sunday, as did key defender Luke McPharlin, who missed the entire last quarter of Fremantle’s shock loss to St Kilda with a tight calf.

Lyon expects McPharlin to play against the Blues.

“We're really confident he'll play. His scan was all clear. He was just a bit tight. We were getting smacked so it was a bit of a pointless exercise,” Lyon said. “He trained yesterday. We're planning for him to train well and play well.

“I think I mooted up to six [changes]. We've got three certain inclusions, which is Sandilands, Hill and Ballantyne. So then from there, there's a few others to look at, [Garrick] Ibbotson.”

Sandilands was rested for the clash against the Saints, while Ballantyne was suspended for striking GWS Giants Tomas Bugg in round 17.

Hill hasn’t played since he won the Glendinning Medal for best afield in the Dockers' win over West Coast in round 15. Ibbotson has missed the past two games with a quad injury.

The Dockers suffered their equal-biggest loss of the season in round 18 when upset by the Saints by 58 points (Hawthorn also won by that margin in round three).

The Saints had an impressive 403 possessions, 141 of those contested, won the clearances against the more-fancied Dockers midfield and went inside their 50 attacking area 59 times to Fremantle’s 42.

While the Saints forwards took 13 marks inside 50 and  had 33 scoring shots to the Dockers' 15, Lyon said that the review showed it was dominance in the midfield that won the St Kilda the game, not a poor Fremantle defence.

“I wouldn't have thought our tall defenders have been a worry at all. I think they were the outcome,” he said. “No one could defend what came down on the weekend. Even David Dench, I don't think he would have stopped it. Geoff Southby, Bruce Doull - put them all in there and they would have had goals kicked on them.”

Lyon missed the Dockers training session Sunday as he was flying back from Melbourne where he watched Hawthorn (which Fremantle plays in round 21) and Sydney do battle, but he is firmly focused on Thursday’s clash against Carlton.

The loss to the Saints broke a streak of eight consecutive Fremantle’s victories and saw it drop to fourth on the ladder, equal on points with fifth-placed Port Adelaide and one win behind Sydney, Hawthorn and Geelong.

But he said the review of the loss to the Saints was complete and that they were not moving on to the Blues.

“The assistant coaches and the senior players took training yesterday. I wasn't here yesterday, I was flying back from Melbourne. Yeah they sound like they've had a good week, good review, it's all done and we're planning for Carlton who are playing some pretty good footy,” he said.

“They've got three tall forwards, obviously [Jarrad] Waite is in good form, [Levi] Casboult and [Lachie] Henderson. [Chris] Judd, [Marc] Murphy and [Bryce] Gibbs are up and about. [Andrew] Carrazzo might return, [Ed] Curnow is a really good run-with player.

“They're getting a lot of bounce out the back aren't they, with [Sam] Docherty, [Kade] Simpson and [Chris] Yarran is playing really good footy, and they’ve got [Zach] Tuohy and [Michael] Jamison.

“[Cam] Wood comes in and takes an opportunity. We understand, as Mick [Malthouse] said, they're best has been very, very good against quality teams.

“Mick knows Subiaco really well. So, yeah, we're preparing for a fierce battle. It's a really important game, obviously.”