New St Kilda coach Scott Wotters says Port Adelaide will be a much tougher AFL opponent on Sunday than most people expect.

Wotters makes his official senior coaching debut on Sunday when the Saints play the Power in a twilight game at AAMI Stadium.

Port are a popular tip to finish in the bottom four after their disastrous season last year.

But they have shown encouraging signs during the pre-season and Wotters said on Thursday that his team will be in for a tough round-one clash.

“They have been highly rated from my point of view, their performances have shown significant improvement,” Wotters said of the Power.

The Saints had an unusual pre-season, with their match against Essendon called off when planes carrying the Bombers’ team were unable to land in the Victorian country town of Wangaratta.

But Wotters said he is pleased with his team’s physical condition and is confident they are ready.

Veteran midfielder Lenny Hayes was stretchered from the field with concussion in their last pre-season game, but Wotters said the star onballer had recovered quickly.

Hayes has not played a home and away game since needing a knee reconstruction early last season.