FREMANTLE veteran Matthew Pavlich is set to return this week against Port Adelaide after missing last week with a groin niggle.

But fellow forward Chris Mayne underwent a rigorous fitness test to see if he would be available to face Port on Saturday afternoon at Domain Stadium.

Mayne had a compression bandage on his right thigh and was put through an agility test away from the main group on Thursday morning before doing some stationary kicking.

Pavlich trained with the main group. Coach Ross Lyon confirmed the ex-skipper would play if he was cleared by the medical staff after training.

"We're pretty confident," Lyon said.

"But he's still got to get through training and then we'll make a final assessment."

Lyon confirmed that Mayne and Danyle Pearce were both carrying niggles. 

"We've got a few little niggles around," Lyon said.

"Chris Mayne is a little bit sore and Danyle Pearce is a little bit sore, and Matthew."

The Dockers are coming off two good performances against Essendon and the Brisbane Lions.

Having lost their first 10 matches of the season they have won their last two by a combined total of 162 points.

More importantly, the Dockers kicked 20 goals or more in both matches.

The Essendon score was the first time they had kicked 20 goals in any match since round 17, 2014 and they have now achieved it in consecutive matches for the first time since 2013.

However Lyon conceded that this week's test against Port Adelaide would be a far steeper challenge.

"It's going to be a sterner test this week, so we're really aiming to come and compete like we have over the last two weeks," he said.

"We feel some things are clicking with some of the things we've been working on, but as I said it's a sterner test."

Lyon said he was keen for his side to play well but he did not think a win against Port Adelaide would confirm the side's improvement.

"You can't let results define your improvement," he said.

"You can win and have gone backwards and you can lose and have gone forward – it's not ultimately about the scoreboard.

"It's a simple measure. If you've given everything you've got and you've given your greatest effort and you fall short well it's a really good position to be in, because it's easy to identify the areas you need to improve.

"We're not defined by the win-loss."

Lyon said the Dockers' effort had been "really strong" for the most part this season, but the ability to sustain four quarters of performance was the thing they needed to improve the most against better opposition.