MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin is hoping that his side see opportunity in crisis for the visit of a resurgent Fremantle.
The Demons' absentees list might not have reached breaking point but it's hard to identify a worse-hit club so early in the season.
Jesse Hogan and Jordan Lewis will miss the Dockers' visit on Saturday as they continue to serve suspensions for reckless acts.
Max Gawn has joined Colin Garland, Aaron vandenBerg and rookie Joel Smith on the long-term injury list, while Michael Hibberd is still a fortnight away from senior football.
It's the absence of All-Australian ruckman Gawn that is set to hurt the Demons the most, given his undoubted ability and the tough match-up awaiting his fill-in, Jake Spencer.
But Goodwin is backing the 27-year-old, who has just 36 games in eight seasons on Melbourne's list, to compete against man mountain Aaron Sandilands.
"We're looking forward to giving Jake an opportunity," Goodwin said on Thursday morning.
"He's been on the list for a long time. He's worked really hard over the summer to be in this position to get this opportunity and it's presented itself so we're looking to see how much he grabs it."
Spencer will be supported by utility Jack Watts at the stoppages, who Goodwin said was "fantastic" in the role last Saturday in the Demons' loss to Geelong.
Melbourne will be boosted by the confirmed appearance of Bernie Vince, who suffered a toe injury against the Cats.
Goodwin said he wanted to see how his emerging side performed without several big names.
"Our injuries are deep and we have a few suspensions," he said.
"With that adversity creates real opportunity and that's what we're really talking about this week - the opportunity for a lot of people to step up and for our team to grow again."
The Demons were inaccurate against Geelong - kicking themselves out of the contest with 13.19 - but Goodwin put that down to just "a bad day".
Against Fremantle (1-2), he's not putting any pressure on his side (2-1) to maintain a position ahead of the ledger.
"It's way too early to be talking about that," he said.
"We've just got to make sure we come out and play our brand ... if we do that we'll go a long way to winning the game."
