Port Adelaide have rid themselves of post-bye malaise, but now shoulder the weight of expectation in a top-of-the-table AFL clash with Hawthorn.

The leader-leading Power are widely expected to get the better of the injury-riddled Hawks at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

The reigning premiers will be without key defenders Josh Gibson (pectoral tear) and Brian Lake (calf), hamstrung stars Sam Mitchell and Cyril Rioli and suspended forward Jarryd Roughead.

For the first time in a regular-season match since round four in 2012, bookmakers have installed Hawthorn as underdogs.

“There’s no chance of that happening,” Port captain Travis Boak replied pointedly when asked if there is any risk of the resurgent Power taking the game lightly.

“Good clubs have that depth and I’m sure they’ll bring in some quality players.

“They’re still probably the best side in the comp … we need to be at our hungriest.”

Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge trained on Monday and is expected to return from a hamstring niggle that forced him to miss the side’s last-start loss to Sydney.

“The way he directs, leads and attacks the ball – it makes everyone stand a little bit taller,” Hawks ruckman David Hale said of Hodge.

Boak pointed to his side’s impressive showings against league heavyweights Geelong and Fremantle at home earlier this season as cause for confidence.

The 25-year-old said a crowd of 50,000 would also help stack the deck against Hawthorn.

But what buoyed Boak the most was how his teammates had attacked training on Sunday, their first session back after a bye in round nine.

“That’s something in the past that we haven’t been good with, coming back from a break training has been a bit down,” Boak said on Monday.

“Yesterday was right up, right from the start … that’s something we’re pretty excited about.”

Hale said his teammates were not worried about the club’s lengthy injury list.

“We can’t cry about the blokes that aren’t there,” Hale said.

“Our Box Hill team is on top of the (VFL) ladder and showed good form .. we have a lot of depth.”

The Power’s premiership odds have been regularly slashed this season, as the plaudits for their freewheeling ways stack up with every meritorious win.

Boak said nobody at the club was getting ahead of themselves, noting the need for weekly improvement.

“Finals footy and the big games of footy are won with contested ball, that’s an area we can really work on,” he said.

“We’ll continue to work on our stoppage stuff.”