PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley is unsure when his side's self-belief will return following another lacklustre performance on Sunday.
The Power slipped to 13th on the ladder after going down to Richmond by 33 points at Adelaide Oval.
The script, written for Kane Cornes' 300th and last game in the AFL, was never followed as the Tigers jumped the Power and were never headed.
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It was Port's fifth loss of the year and third in a row after last weekend's disaster against the Brisbane Lions and the defeat at home to West Coast the week before.
Hinkley could take positives out of Sunday's defeat: his side generated 10 more inside 50s than Richmond (53-43).
Yet he knows how poor his players' form is.
His advice to the playing group to break through its slump was to hone in on details at training and trust that the tide will eventually turn.
"You can fluff and mess around and say it was this or it was that but tonight we played the game a little bit more the way we'd like to play it: in our half, got the entries right, got front of centre turnovers right – then our skill just went horrendous," Hinkley said.
"The composure sometimes comes with more belief and at the moment the belief's disappeared a little bit, we've just got to keep fighting to find it.
"I said to the boys just now as I left them that you need to turn up tomorrow morning and be thorough about everything you do in preparation for the next game of footy.
"I'm not going to sit here and pretend I've got a crystal ball that can predict when we're going to get it right – I predict that we're going to work to get it right.
"I've got great belief in this group and I won't lose that, I'll never lose that."
WATCH: Ken Hinkley's full post-match media conference
To make things worse for the Power, Jackson Trengove is set for an extended stint on the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury late in the game.
The key defender couldn't put any weight on the ankle and was sent for scans once the game finished.
"Clearly (it's) a significant foot injury, I haven't actually spoken to Jackson or the doctors … I would suggest he's going to miss a period of time of football," Hinkley said.
"'Jacko's' not bullet proof at all when it comes to staying on the park for whole seasons, he hasn't been able to do that."
Port expects an update on Trengove to become available on Monday morning.
