Port Adelaide won’t fight Jason Horne-Francis’ one-match ban for rough conduct, leaving the struggling Power significantly short-handed for Saturday’s clash against ladder-leading Fremantle.

Horne-Francis’ bump on St Kilda’s Liam Stocker was graded as careless with high contact and medium impact. The SA club spent Sunday night weighing up whether to challenge the ruling, but ultimately opted to accept the one-match suspension.

“Having reviewed comparable charges across the league this season, the club’s legal team has found no grounds to reduce the grading from medium to low, and an appeal to the AFL Tribunal would not succeed,” the Power said in a statement.

“The league’s grading system offers no realistic basis to challenge. Horne-Francis elected to bump and left the ground at the point of contact, the contact was high and felled the player, which meets the threshold for medium impact.”

It means the star forward-midfielder will join fellow big names Zak Butters (syndesmosis) and Mitch Georgiades (concussion) in coming out of the side that lost to the Saints last weekend, and leaves the Power bereft of A-graders against the dominant Dockers.

Port Adelaide remain without skipper Connor Rozee, defender Esava Ratugolea and Sam Powell-Pepper from their first-choice line-up, while Lachie Jones and Jack Lukosius will both be assessed after copping fresh injuries last weekend.

The top-end selection crisis has seen the Dockers installed as a $1.11 favourite with bookmakers for Saturday’s clash at Adelaide Oval.