Taylor Adams in running to replace injured Sydney captain Callum Mills against Port Adelaide

Sydney Swans coach John Longmire says “nothing is locked in” when it comes to a replacement for injured captain Callum Mills as Taylor Adams looms as a possible inclusion for Friday’s preliminary final against Port Adelaide.

Adams, who left Collingwood to join the Swans after missing last year’s grand final with injury, was dropped for Sydney’s first-up finals win against GWS but could replace captain Mills, who injured his hamstring at training last week.

Longmire said Mills hurt himself with a “light kick” and hadn’t been ruled out should the Swans progress to the grand final.

“It was disappointing. He’s as we know a very important player for us and he got back to some really good form too,” Longmire said on Monday.

“We’d obviously missed him for most of the season. We were able to cope with him for most of the season and that was important to be able to do that. He only did a light training session, it was a very light kick and unfortunately, he hurt his hamstring.

“It’s disappointing, these things happen, we’ve moved on from that and we’ve got to focus on this week.

“He hasn’t been ruled out but it hasn’t been our focus just yet. It has been with the medical conditioning staff, they’re doing all the work.”

Longmire said he and his coaching staff had some decisions to make when it came to replacing Mills, and despite Adams being the last man out, he’s not locked in to come back in.

“I’m not sure yet. We weren’t sure until we realised who we were going to play. Now we know that, we’re talking through those things at the moment,” he said.

“We’re sitting down and working that out now. Hopefully, there’s a couple of options there.

“Is it a like for like type? We know we can’t replace his leadership ability, he’s very good in that space, but we’ve got some options there – nothing’s locked in.”

Longmire distanced himself from the drama involving Port coach Ken Hinkley, who copped a $20,000 fine from the AFL for conduct unbecoming after clashing with Hawthorn players in the wake of his team’s thrilling semi-final win.

“Trying to stay out of it as much as I can,” Longmire said.

“The only thing I will say is coaches are front and centre of a lot of things and it’s a pretty tough job and Kenny has done a fantastic job with that football team.”

Longmire said the standout from Port’s win over the Hawks was the pressure they brought and expected more of the same on Friday night.

“It was red hot early on in the game and it stayed that way for the entire game,” he said.

“It was a fierce contest and Port Adelaide were able to apply enormous pressure on the opposition. They were able to withstand the heat that Hawthorn were able to apply, and they were able to stand up in the moments and to their great credit. That’s the thing that really stood out.”