While Ross Lyon said he would welcome the potential return of key forward Matt Taberner for the Western Derby at Optus Stadium, the Fremantle senior coach said the key for Sunday’s clash would be ensuring his team could create enough opportunities for the forwards. 

Lyon said both Fremantle and West Coast struggled in that department in round 19, with both teams looking to bounce back through an improved performance through the middle.

With the likes of ruckman Aaron Sandilands, midfielder Nat Fyfe and half-back Connor Blakely out through injury, Lyon said Fremantle would continue to consider their options.

“It just shows how important that supply element is,” Lyon said.

“It’s easier sometimes to look at the front half (for a lack of scoring) but we’re trying to construct and expose (in the midfield). 

“(First-year players) Adam Cerra’s been through there and Andrew Brayshaw’s back in. 

“We’ve put Michael Walters in there at times. David Mundy, Lachie Neale and Sean Darcy played really against Port Adelaide but since then we’ve struggled in there and opposition midfields have got on top.

“Do we look at Stephen Hill going through there? Bailey Banfield learnt some lessons last week playing on some pretty good players.

“We’re trying to find a mix. We’re never just going to replace Fyfe, Sandilands and Blakely overnight.

“With the young guys, we’re buying them experience and that’s the stated objective. That’s a clear KPI.

“We’re playing around seven players under 20 games (experience). They’re incredibly young, but in saying that, we’ve been able to deliver some good performances. We would like to do that.” 

Lyon highlighted that Fremantle improved their supply in the second half against Hawthorn, with 16 inside 50s in the opening half and 27 in the second.

“I thought we fought on really well. There’s no doubt about it,” Lyon said.

“We always want to compete. After half time we had more entries than Hawthorn but our ground position and our poor ball use gave us no chance in the first half.

“That was just frustrating because those two things are more controllable than what we delivered.”