Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says his squad for Thursday night’s final NAB Challenge clash against Port Adelaide is closing in on his preferred 22.

Hardwick said on Tuesday that youngster Nathan Drummond, who is recovering from a torn ACL, was the only player unavailable for the Club’s Round 1 match against Carlton on March 24.  

The Tigers welcome a number of inclusions for their final NAB Challenge hit-out with Port at Etihad Stadium on Thursday night.

Richmond star Brett Deledio and ruckman Shaun Hampson will play their first matches for 2016, while Ty Vickery and Ben Griffiths were also named in the squad.

As well as Drummond, Chris Yarran, Todd Elton, Reece McKenzie and Liam McBean will be the only other Tigers not to feature in the NAB Challenge.

“We’ve been pleased (with the pre-season), the great thing for us is we’ve got a number of players available for selection, which is really important,” Hardwick said.

“I think the depth of our crew has improved, the quality of players we’ve brought in has improved.

“We’re pleased with the things we put in place to work on over summer, some of those we saw last week. We’re looking forward to seeing them again on Thursday night against Port Adelaide.

“They’re a side that play a really exciting, attacking brand of footy, so it’s going to be a great contest for us at Etihad.”