Sydney Swans coach John Longmire says it will be a battle of young, tough and talented midfielders in this weekend’s match against North Melbourne.

Both the Swans and Kangaroos produced outstanding midfield performances in their respective wins over Port Adelaide and Geelong on the weekend, and Longmire said there is no doubt as to where Sunday’s match will be won.

“We see primarily the battle being a massive midfield battle this week,” he said.

“That’s where the challenge lies for both teams.”

Longmire praised the performances of Josh Kennedy, Dan Hannebery and Luke Parker in Saturday’s 22-point win over the Power at AAMI Stadium, with the group collecting 93 disposals between them.

“We’ve been thrilled with the progression of our younger mids,” he said.

“You look at Kennedy, Parker and Hannebery - they’re all 23 and younger - and they’re our three highest possession getters on the weekend.

“They all played an important role in our midfield.”

Kennedy continued his streak of stand-out efforts for the Swans, notching up 27 disposals, which again impressed the coach.

“(Kennedy) is certainly pushing along to be a really important player in the competition now,” Longmire said.

“His consistency is remarkable, and he has been able to string good games after good games regularly and he’s even lifting his quality of what he classifies as a good game now.

“He is a very hard match up and he has been consistently in our best players for the first three weeks and we’re hoping he continues the way he’s been going.”

Longmire said he was also impressed with the performances of his team’s other developing players, including fleet-footed duo Lewis Jetta and Gary Rohan.

“We’ve been really pleased with our younger players improving along,” he said.

“There’s Jetta and Gary Rohan - who we thought was really good on the weekend with his pressure - and they have been reasonably consistent for the first three weeks.”

Longmire said his team will need to be on their game to match up with North’s talented midfield group, who amassed half of their team’s 20 goals in yesterday’s win over the Cats.

“North Melbourne were really impressive. The way they played against last year’s premiers was really impressive and a real credit to them,” he said.

“To have the midfielders kick 10 goals is a remarkable statistic and they’re handballing a lot and are playing with great energy, so they’ll take some beating.

“You look at Ziebell and Bastinac, they’ve kicked four goals each from the midfield, which is a great effort from a couple of young developing midfielders.

“They are playing with real pace and energy and high handball, so they’ll take some beating.”

Longmire also confirmed that Ben McGlynn, who was subbed off with an ankle injury, will be fit to play on Sunday, while defender Nick Smith will require another week off to recover from a virus.