Fremantle Dockers set to welcome back stars Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands, David Mundy and Michael Barlow

FREMANTLE will ramp up its premiership assault next Sunday when it welcomes back Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands, David Mundy and Michael Barlow.

Matthew Pavlich

FREMANTLE will ramp up its premiership assault next Sunday against St Kilda when it welcomes back stars Matthew Pavlich, Aaron Sandilands, David Mundy and Michael Barlow.

Dockers coach Ross Lyon confirmed the quartet would all play against the Saints after last night's forgettable 41-point thrashing by Geelong at Simonds Stadium.

Fremantle is wasting little time lamenting the loss, instead setting its sights on September by fielding its strongest team of the year.

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The Dockers have slipped to fifth but have a dream run home, playing just one current top eight side in its remaining nine matches.

Sandilands will finally play his first game for the season after recovering from a serious hamstring injury, while Pavlich will make his first appearance since Round 3 following surgery on his plantaris tendon.

Key midfielders David Mundy (calf) and Michael Barlow (jaw) will also be back.

Lyon said it was "self-evident'' that Mundy and Barlow had left big holes and was adamant the season was still on track after the disappointing 11.19 (85) to 7.2 (44) loss.

The Dockers had just seven inside 50 entries in the second half as Geelong completely dominated play.

"I think the glass is half-full isn't it?,'' Lyon said. "We've got five of our very best players coming back in, we play at home. We're in pretty good shape and we know at our best we can compete with teams like Geelong.

"We've got no excuses tonight. We played a very good football team on their home turf. I thought the heat was on early and then in the end they cracked us and cracked us right open.

"We know we can play better than that, but we didn't. So it's a really sharp reminder how brutal this competition is.

"We should grow out of this if we're made of the right stuff, which I'm sure we are.''

The good news on the injury front was tempered by more Match Review Panel worries, with Nat Fyfe and Zac Dawson facing nervous waits.

Fyfe appeared to catch Joel Selwood high with a bump in the third quarter, while Dawson swung an arm into the face of Matthew Stokes in the opening term.

David Mundy

The Dockers should also welcome back defender Lee Spurr, who became ill on Friday night and was too sick to come to the ground to watch.

Fellow defender Paul Duffield is in doubt for the St Kilda match after he was subbed out with a calf injury.

Tagger Ryan Crowley was superb in holding Cats skipper Joel Selwood to just 13 possessions, while winning 14 of his own.

It came after Crowley was found guilty of pinching North Melbourne's Brent Harvey during the week.

"He was our only four-quarter performer on a great player against great adversity,'' Lyon said. "He's put under a lot of scrutiny. I thought he displayed his true character today.

"You can talk about your character or you can display it, and I thought he displayed it tonight. He's got fierce concentration.''