Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr says he wants to see Jason Horne-Francis go against West Coast’s Harley Reid

Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr says he hopes to see No.1 draftees Jason Horne Francis and Harley Reid lock horns when they take on West Coast at Adelaide Oval on Sunday morning. Both the Power and the Eagles are coming off confidence-boosting victories in round two on the back of stellar performances from their budding superstars. Horne-Francis responded to criticism around his quiet round one performance with three first-quarter goals from 26 disposals in a starring role against Essendon. Meanwhile, Reid earned 10 coaches votes with a career-high 30 touches to lead the young Eagles to a drought-breaking victory over North Melbourne at Optus Stadium. Carr said Horne-Francis had now put in a big enough workload that there were “no excuses” for the 22-year-old, who is set to play an even bigger role in the Power’s midfield after they lost captain Connor Rozee to a serious hamstring injury. “I hope so (to see Reid and Horne-Francis go head to head). I think that’s exciting for everyone out there. I mean, they enjoyed that contest last year. The players love that, they love the contest going at each other. How good’s that for footy?,” Carr said on Wednesday. “(Horne-Francis) is pretty close (to playing majority midfield time). There’s no excuses for Hornet, he’s now got a body of work. “We feel like he’s going in the right direction. It’s still not going to be perfect. He’s going to have his good quarters and bad quarters; is trying to string the consistency together for him and for the team. But I don’t have any doubts about him going into the midfield and playing a role there.” West Coast snapped a 14-game losing streak with their 17-point win over the Kangaroos, breaking the game open in an eight-goal third term. Carr said the Eagles had impressed him, in particular, the development of their younger players. “It’s a great challenge for us. I thought the way that they played that game last weekend was impressive,” he said. “That’s not going to be an easy game to play in. We’re going to have to play really good football to get a result. “We’ve got to have awareness of what the opposition is trying to play, what opportunities we have and what we’re going to take away from them. So that’s no different this week against West Coast.”