Coach Ken Hinkley has urged Port Adelaide to embrace a testing month when they will find out whether they are "worthy" of being considered one of the AFL's best teams.
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Port fought back from 31 points down to beat second-placed Carlton by 14 at Marvel Stadium on Friday night, leaping into third - albeit likely temporarily - as a result.
The Power next host Sydney on Saturday, then play Melbourne (away), Adelaide (home) and Fremantle (away) to continue a tough run home.
"Well I hope it does (excite the group) because we've got no choice," Hinkley said.
"That's the challenges we face and we look forward to them. I mean, we want to be a good team, we want to be one of the best teams in the comp. If you're going to do that, you're gonna have to beat them.
"A lot of people have said we've probably got perfect preparation to go through the back half of the back five games of the year where we're gonna find out whether we're worthy.
"And that will be really nice, once we get that answer."
The win over Carlton was an impressive, gritty performance, but HInkley wouldn't be drawn on the suggestion it would build belief.
"We've always had some belief," he said.
"Not many do about us, but we've had a bit of belief and we're trying really hard to continue to improve late in the season.
"We've won four of our last five now ... we're building but you're gonna have to keep building - it's tough."
Hinkley hailed Zak Butters for his ability to work around and fight through a tight tag from Alex Cincotta.
The midfielder has received attention for becoming the most fined player in AFL history - with his total career sanctions adding up to more than $35,000.
That has included rough conduct charges for lashing out in frustration at the attention of taggers or other opposition players.
Cincotta kept Butters to three touches in the first quarter but the smooth mover recovered to notch 23 for the night.
"I would say that it's really hard for a small player like Zak to handle being manhandled around stoppages," Hinkley said.
"And that's real, that's what goes on and he knows that - he knows it's really hard work.
"Carlton, Cincotta does a really good job of looking after him but Zak's learned a lot in the last six weeks, he's going to be in good position as he goes through the next four weeks, he's grown as a player.
"Really proud of Zak and some of his fines come about for some of the treatment he cops."
Australian Associated Press
