Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir will give forward Jye Amiss more time to fix his goalkicking woes, but veteran Michael Walters faces a nervous wait to see if he will avoid the axe.
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Amiss has looked shot for confidence in front of goal this year, kicking a wayward 14.15 across 10 games in comparison to his return of 41.17 last year.
The 20-year-old's goalkicking has looked particularly wobbly in recent games, with Amiss kicking a combined 2.7 over the past three weeks.
In last week's draw against Collingwood, Amiss was restricted to just 0.1 from four disposals, with one of his other set shots sailing out on the full.
But Longmuir is sticking by Amiss for Sunday's clash with Melbourne at Traeger Park in Alice Springs, believing a fix to the goalkicking wobbles isn't far away.
"He's lost a little bit of confidence in his kicking, but we can get that back," Longmuir told reporters on Thursday.
"He's got a lot of evidence to suggest he's a good shot on goal. That won't take long to get back, to get confidence in front of goal.
"And his confidence in his game is actually growing.
"The St Kilda game a couple of weeks ago, he did a lot right to get (seven) shots on goal (on the way to kicking 2.5), so we take a positive out of that.
"He might be a little bit lower in confidence in front of the big sticks, but the confidence in his game is still really strong."
When asked if he will continue to back Amiss on the selection front, Longmuir replied: "Absolutely, no question."
Longmuir wasn't as unequivocal when asked about Walters, who kicked eight goals across the first eight rounds, but has gone goalless over the past three weeks.
Walters tallied just two possessions after coming on as the sub against Sydney three weeks ago and followed that up with 0.2 from seven disposals against St Kilda. He then had 0.0 from nine disposals against Collingwood.
Even if the 33-year-old survives the selection chop this week he will need to put in a big display against Melbourne to keep his spot.
"We need a little bit more out of 'Sonny', he knows that," Longmuir said.
"He would like a little bit more out of his own game as well, so we're on the same page there.
"There's going to be one or two changes this week, so we'll see how it falls for 'Sonny'. But we want him up and going.
"We probably lack a bit of finish in our front half and he definitely brings that.
"We just have to work out how to get him more of the ball and get him more involved in the game."
Longmuir said forward Michael Frederick will return from concussion if he pulls up well from Thursday's main training.
Australian Associated Press
