Gold Coast co-captain Touk Miller hasn't given up on the Suns' AFL finals dream despite last weekend's heartbreaking loss to Collingwood.
The Suns coughed up a fourth-quarter lead to fall to the Magpies by five points, leaving them 11th on the ladder with a 7-8 record and eight points adrift of the top eight.
Up next is a clash with injury-hit Richmond on Saturday at Metricon Stadium where a win is vital to keep hopes of September football alive.
The seventh-placed Tigers are on 36 points but head north missing several key names.
Kane Lambert has been ruled out with injury, joining superstar Dustin Martin (hamstring), defender Nick Vlastuin (suspension) and youngster Josh Gibcus (illness) on the sidelines.
"It's probably going to be a bottleneck by the time we get to the end of the year in terms of who's going to get the spots," Miller told AAP about the top-eight race.
"But we have an opportunity, and we probably haven't been in this position for quite some time.
"So yes, it's a carrot.
"It's in the back of our minds and I'm sure everyone's thinking about it, but we just have to lower the eyes.
"Richmond's our goal, then on to Essendon.
"It's in our control. I think we could do it."
The Tigers have named former Sun Dion Prestia in their line-up.
It will be the gun midfielder's first game since being concussed in the round-15 clash with Geelong in an off-the-ball incident which cost Cats defender Tom Stewart a four-week suspension.
Jake Aarts and Ben Miller are the other inclusions for Damien Hardwick's team.
The Suns have made four changes to the team which just fell short against the Magpies.
Young defender Connor Budarick suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the fourth quarter of that match, Izak Rankine and Oleg Markov are both out due to health and safety protocols, while James Tsitas is omitted after making his AFL debut last week.
Suns coach Stuart Dew, who sealed a two-year contract extension during the week, has named Brayden Fiorini, Sam Day and Jeremy Sharp in their places with Jack Lukosius also returning from a knee injury that has sidelined him since round eight.
Ex-Tiger Brandon Ellis will be making his 50th appearance for the Suns.
