Gold Coast midfielder Dion Prestia is confident the Suns can still compete if skipper Gary Ablett is suspended, but he's not expecting that problem to arise.
Ablett will be sweating on the match review panel findings after he appeared to catch Western Bulldog Liam Picken with an elbow behind play in the second quarter of Sunday's 45 point AFL win for the Suns at Metricon Stadium.
Any ban would rule the Brownlow Medal favourite out of contention for the prize, scuppering his hopes for a record-equalling third league best-and-fairest.
It would also deny the Suns the services of their influential champion going into a tough six-game stretch, which starts with a trip to Adelaide to play the Crows this Sunday.
"If it happened two years ago, we'd probably be stuffed I reckon," Prestia said when asked what a ban would mean for Ablett.
"We've got a lot of midfielders that can step up to the plate and we've shown that the last couple of weeks.
"But I'll think he'll play this weekend."
Ablett's apparent indiscretion came after he'd been well marshalled by Picken.
The Suns' skipper was clearly frustrated by the close attention he was receiving from the Bulldogs' midfield, which Prestia admitted had been suffocating, particularly in the first half.
"We probably did everything we could to try and protect Gaz, getting him into the game and the Bulldogs brought a lot of heat," he said.
"Probably a credit to them to finish off the last quarter as well as they did. Even though, I think it go out to 70 points at one stage, they finished the game really well."
Prestia was one of the Suns' best in the win, which was built on the back of an eight goals to one third term.
The 21-year-old collected a game-high 35 disposals as the Suns' picked up their fifth win in a row to move to third on the ladder - the first time the club has been in the top four in their history.
"We're winning the games we expect to win," Prestia said.
"We can't really help the draw we get ... seven and two is better than being two and seven. We want to play finals this year so that's our goal."
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