Fremantle caretaker coach Mark Harvey says the squad that thumped Essendon by 63 points last week deserves to be rewarded with selection again, despite a number of key players pushing their case for a recall.

Key taggers Matthew Carr and Steven Dodd are expected to be fit for Saturday's cutthroat clash against St Kilda at Melbourne's Telstra Dome, while midfielder Des Headland (hamstring) is another who will be pushing his case for selection.

However, the trio could be forced to spend a week in the wilderness after Harvey signalled his reluctance to change a winning side.

"It's very hard to make changes when they play like they do," Harvey said, also adding that Troy Cook will again be named in the 25-man squad but was unlikely to play.

"I think when you play to that sort of maximum that we have played in the last two weeks you'd like to reward those guys for that effort."

Fremantle have surged back into top-eight calculations on the back of three wins since Harvey took over the reins a month ago.

The Dockers enter round 20 just two points adrift of eighth spot, but a loss against the Saints would consign Harvey's charges back onto the AFL's scrapheap.

"I haven't spoken about it much at all," Harvey said of the club's finals chances.

"You learn in this game not to go down that track too quickly, so unless you know categorically that you're there, you rarely mention it."

"So we all understand we can't get carried away about where we're at, we've just got to nail it in the next three weeks. Obviously when you have a run like we've had in the last month there's a tinge of excitement about where we are going. But that's all it is at the moment."

With the Saints boasting power forwards Nick Riewoldt, Justin Koschitzke and Fraser Gehrig, and the Dockers possessing the likes of Matthew Pavlich, Chris Tarrant and Jeff Farmer, Harvey predicted Saturday's clash would be a battle of the forward lines.

"The forward lines are exciting at both ends and it might well come down to the backlines being able to do the job. Out backline is very stable and work well for each other so hopefully they can combat what is a strength for St Kilda," he said.

"We've got a good record against St Kilda in the last couple of years but that counts for nothing when it gets to the business end of the season and the pressure is on everyone to play for a spot in the eight."

Harvey said clean skills were the key to winning at the fast-paced Dome.