The Tigers face finals-bound Hawthorn on Sunday at the MCG in another daunting assignment for Adem Yze's young team.
Decimated by injuries during his three years in charge, Yze is starting to get some players back for the final six games of their campaign.
Richmond regain No.1 draft pick Sam Lalor, Jayden Short and Steely Green, while the Hawks have lost star Will Day (calf).
"Competition for spots is going to be pretty important right now and start to heat up," Yze said.
"We expect our players to drive standards as if we were playing in a final series.
"We can't make the finals, but we can shape it, so we know what Hawthorn are playing for.
"We want to put some of our players under pressure and hope that we can spoil the party.
"Our pressure wasn't good enough last week, our inside-50, we couldn't lock it in.
"We're just looking at the dynamic of our team and the balance of our team."
Although Day misses out, Hawthorn bring back Josh Battle, Josh Weddle and Nick Watson as they look to consolidate a top-four spot.
The Hawks are coming off a 64-point thrashing of Carlton last week in a welcome return to form after a patchy spell that included a belting by Melbourne at their Launceston fortress.
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