Essendon coach Brad Scott is confident his undersized defence can punch above their weight and cut down Gold Coast's tall timber.
The Suns are set to deploy 202cm Ben King, 198cm Levi Casboult and Jack Lukosius (195cm) against the Bombers on Sunday, making for a tall forward line despite Mabior Chol's omission.
Essendon's backline is marshalled by Jordan Ridley (195cm), Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (195cm) and Jayden Laverde (193cm).
But Scott dismissed concerns over Gold Coast's height, while admitting he could be forced into a reshuffle if key forward Sam Weideman (toe) is a late withdrawal at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
"We've got some flexibility back there," he said.
"While people might think we're a bit undersized against four tall opposition forwards, we think we've got some guys who can size and shape.
"So we'll have a good think about that. Our team's still probably in a state of flux just based on availability and who's absolutely clear to play.
"If Weideman's right, then that'll change the look of our side. If he's not, then we'll have to reshuffle."
The Suns were stinging after their thumping round-one loss to Sydney and Scott is prepared for a response.
"We're aware of the Gold Coast's strengths and they've got a lot of talent, a lot of guys who are really good players and at their best they're a really damaging team," Scott said.
"I expect them to come out and apply a lot of pressure and really take it up to us in the contest."
"So we've got to be up for that. We were certainly up for it last week and we need to bring the same level of competitive effort around the contest."
The Suns regain Lachie Weller from his ACL tear while Malcolm Rosas has been called upon and round-one substitute Brayden Fiorini has been elevated to the 22.
Chol, Alex Davies and Jy Farrar were dropped.
Last week's substitute Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (quad) is the only out for Essendon, pending Weideman's availability.
Scott hopes his charges will take confidence out of their first-up win over Hawthorn.
"We've been really, really clear and consistent over the last four to six months that we've got a lot of work to do and the weekend's game didn't change that fact," he said.
"But it is, I think, good for the players to get a little bit of confidence in that if we play the style that we're trying to play we can get some decent results."
