Click to view Nat Fyfe talking about his ankle on YouTube.
FREMANTLE midfielder Nat Fyfe is confident he will be fit to face Richmond at Patersons Stadium on Saturday after his injured left ankle responded well to treatment this week.
Fyfe rolled the ankle in his hotel room last Saturday, treading on his suitcase while warming up with a football ahead of Fremantle's clash with Adelaide, which he then missed.
The young star, who had returned from shoulder surgery in top form, needs to get through training on Thursday and pull up well to take his place against the Tigers in a must-win game for Fremantle.
"Basically I was in the hotel room pre-game and mucking around with the footy as I always do, just flicking it around to myself and getting my hands right," Fyfe said on Wednesday.
"Unfortunately I stepped on the edge of my suitcase, landed awkwardly and rolled my ankle. It's the ankle I've done a few times before, so it's quite sloppy.
"At the moment the forecast is looking really good, I've got a lot of physio this week and I have to get through a training session tomorrow. If everything goes according to plan I should be right to line up on Saturday.
"I've done this ankle before and it's been a relatively quick turnaround when I've injured it before.
"I'm confident with the physio staff that we have that they'll get me up for the weekend."
Fyfe said he had initially thought the ankle would get through the Adelaide game but it was quick to swell up and club doctors ruled him out of the match, which Fremantle lost by 28 points.
It was another setback in a frustrating season for Fyfe, who missed 12 matches following a second shoulder reconstruction.
The 20-year-old didn't miss a beat, however, in his return against Port Adelaide in round 18, racking up 26 possessions and backing that performance up against West Coast one week later with 28 possessions and eight clearances.
Fyfe's career stats
He said he didn't want to waste any matches "finding the groove".
"I had a big 12 weeks in rehab and especially a big last six weeks in a running program, so I knew that I'd done the work," he said.
"I was pretty confident that I could come back and make an impact.
"Against West Coast I felt like I ran out the game really well. I've had a bit of a spell now, but I'm hopeful this week I can build on what I had in that western derby."
Fremantle could be boosted this week by the return of star ruckman Aaron Sandilands, with the three-time All Australianalso set to undergo a fitness test on Thursday.
Sandilands hasn't played since suffering a toe injury against Richmond in round 11.
"With (Zac) Clarke, Kepler (Bradley) and Jon (Griffin) in the ruck, we do go a little bit more defensive," Fyfe said.
"But when we have Aaron in there we have the advantage of being a little bit more attacking and dictating a little bit.
"Aaron's missed a lot of footy, so he'll have to find his groove as well. But I'm sure over a number of weeks, when we get that continuity together with Aaron and the midfield group, we're hopeful we can start really dictating to other midfields.
"The dynamics have changed slightly, but I think we showed against West Coast that when it clicks, we're quite a potent midfield."
Nathan Schmook covers Fremantle news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nathan
