Port Adelaide pair face preliminary final fitness tests

Port Adelaide duo Charlie Dixon and Ryan Burton face fitness tests on Thursday to determine their selection for Friday night's preliminary final against Sydney.

Power coach Ken Hinkley has signalled he will pick the pair if they prove they have overcome their respective ailments at an afternoon training session at the SCG.

Dixon has been battling illness, which forced him to be a late withdrawal from Port's side which pipped Hawthorn by three points in their semi-final.

Burton was ruled out of the game against Hawks after failing a test on an injured calf on the eve of the game.

"He (Dixon) was going to play in a semi-final last week other than being ill, so we're optimistic that he'll be available to play," Hinkley said on Wednessay.

"We're optimistic that Burton will also be available to play.

"Ryan's form the previous three weeks, if he wasn't in our best two or three players, he was in our best four - if he's fit, he will be playing.

"We train in Sydney ... so there's lots of things still to tick off and get through before we can confirm ins or outs."

Dixon looms as a swap for fellow forward Todd Marshall, who is sidelined by concussion, and Burton could replace Will Lorenz, who was a late inclusion last-start but featured only briefly as a substitute in his second AFL game.

The Power's dramatic win over Hawthorn came with a controversial fallout when Hinkley was fined $20,000 by the AFL for conduct unbecoming after he taunted Hawk players after the final siren.

Hinkley dismissed any distraction as he seeks to make his first grand final in his 12-year tenure as Power coach.

The 57-year-old will be at the helm for his 274th game on Friday night, breaking Mark Williams' record for most games coached at the South Australian club.

But Hinkley said his sole focus was continuing Port's recovery from their 84-point qualifying final loss to Geelong.

"We just stay in the moment, knowing that every moment you play AFL football finals or not finals, if you don't bring the right intensity, you leave yourself open to some really bad performances," he said.

"If you have your intensity at a really high level, you leave yourself open to some great performances.

"Our boys understand - I'm sure the Sydney boys do too and the same with the other two teams playing this weekend - with top four sides, you separate yourself by consistency.

"And our blokes are understanding of what it's going to take."

Geelong host Brisbane in the other preliminary final at the MCG in a Saturday twilight fixture.