Port Adelaide are hopeful star forward Chad Wingard won’t be sidelined for long after injuring himself during their AFL loss to Melbourne.

Wingard sprained his ankle in the third quarter of Saturday’s AFL clash at the MCG and sat out most of the final term as the Demons clung on for a 23-point victory.

The 23-year-old was helped off the ground after Demons defender Sam Frost landed on him during a marking contest.

He briefly returned but was clearly hampered and quickly returned to the bench to have his ankle iced.

“He wanted to go back out there and try in the last quarter but, at first jump, you could tell he wasn’t quite right,” coach Ken Hinkey said.

“We’ll just assess it and see how it comes up.

“Normally, there’s a chance that like (ruckman Paddy Ryder), they can get up and play the next week. As we’ve always done, we won’t risk it.

“We win games without our better players in the side all the time. If that happens again next week, that’s when we’ll have to do it again.”

The Power remained in fourth place after their loss to the Demons but it was a missed opportunity to prove their premiership credentials with an elusive defeat of a top-eight side.

Port were left uncharacteristically subdued by Melbourne’s ferocious pressure during the first half and didn’t kick their first goal until the 23rd minute of the second quarter.

“The challenge for our group is to continually get up and play hard, competitive football week-in, week-out,” Hinkley said.

“By the end of the year, those will be the teams that will be the most-challenging teams. They’ll be the teams that potentially play when it counts the most.”