MELBOURNE small forward Jeff Garlett will play against Port Adelaide at the MCG on Saturday after attending the funeral of a family member in Perth earlier this week.

Garlett flew to Perth after the Demons' loss to Adelaide in Darwin last Saturday night, but returned to Melbourne on Thursday and completed a light training session on Friday morning in readiness for the crucial Port clash.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin confirmed Garlett would take his place in the Demons' team on Saturday.

"He's good to go. He had some personal issues back in Perth that we worked really closely with Jeff (on) and (we were) very respectful of what he was going through back in Perth," Goodwin told reporters on Friday morning.

"But yesterday he made a real commitment to the team and flew back and is really looking forward to playing.

"It's a big day for our footy club from an indigenous perspective. It's the first time we'll wear our indigenous jumper at the MCG, so for Jeff to be a part of that is just terrific."

Goodwin said Garlett trained on Friday purely to make up for missing the club's main training session on Thursday.

"He's doing a light session today just to tick a few boxes and make sure he's 100 per cent," Goodwin said.

"He's under no injury cloud, he went back for personal reasons and we're glad to have him back."

After a horror recent run with injury, things have finally started to turn for the Demons, with Jack Viney (foot, sidelined for two weeks), Jack Watts (hamstring, four weeks), Dom Tyson (knee, two weeks) and Christian Salem (hamstring, three weeks) all ready to return against the Power.

Goodwin was confident all four players – including Viney who will return just 19 days after having plantar fascia surgery – were fully fit.

"All of the guys have done a hell of a lot of work. We've got great faith in the high-performance staff and the way they go about their business, so we feel really comfortable in bringing all of those guys back into the team," Goodwin said.

Goodwin said co-captain Nathan Jones (quad) was a chance to return next round but still had "a bit of work to tick off", while the Dees coach was confident Angus Brayshaw had "fully recovered" from his latest concussion and was ready to resume in the VFL on Saturday night after nine weeks on the sidelines.

Former co-captain Jack Trengove has also been recalled for Saturday's game against Port, for what will be his first AFL game since round 13 last season.

Goodwin said everyone at Melbourne was rapt to see Trengove back, knowing how hard he had worked on his game and body to reclaim a senior spot.

Saturday's game shapes as a crucial one for the Demons, who have suffered heavy losses to Sydney and Adelaide in their past three games and now hold a top-eight spot on percentage alone.

The Demons will be without Bernie Vince against the Power following his two-game suspension for striking Crows forward Eddie Betts.

Goodwin conceded his players had crossed the line in their physical approach at times this year, saying the Demons had to get back to being "a really hard contested ball team".

"The last three weeks haven't been to our normal standard of play in that area, we want to build our footy team around that area," Goodwin said.

"We know we've crossed the line at times as a team and Bernie Vince knows that he's let the team down, but we know what we're trying to build as well, so we'll keep forging towards that."