St Kilda coach Ross Lyon is confident forward Max King will feature in Saturday night's clash with Gold Coast, while midfielder Brad Crouch's selection prospects are less certain despite his form and fitness.
King needs to prove his fitness at selection on Thursday and will train fully at RSEA Park as he looks to overcome a knee injury that limited his Round 12 outing against West Coast last weekend.
The Saints spearhead will need to report no concerns following the club's main training session, with Lyon "optimistic" of the 23-year-old's chances.
Crouch's return following three weeks in the VFL is "not 100%" as Lyon weighs up his midfield plans to tackle the Suns' star-studded engine room ensemble.
The ex-Crow has continued to press his case for a recall after overcoming a knee injury sustained in the Saints' season opener, with Crouch in the mix but no certainty to return in Round 13.
"We're really optimistic," Lyon said of King's chances.
"We expect him to train and train fully. If he gets through pain-free he'll play.
"[Crouch's return] is not 100%, we're really weighing it up and looking at the balance of Gold Coast's midfield. They're really high-end.
"We've got to understand how we can work our midfield. He's certainly in the mix but it's not 100%."
Should Lyon be without King, wingman Mason Wood could be called on to help in attack following his strong four-goal performance against West Coast.
While likely to slot onto a wing again this weekend, the Saints won't rule out potentially sending the veteran forward to inject some mobility forward of the ball.
"We have thrown him forward a few times, he did kick a couple of those goals from the wing. He can get in deep," Lyon said of Wood.
"It was a really strong performance, he stood up. We see him primarily as a winger as Butler has come back and Max should be available.
"[Putting Wood forward] is certainly something to go to, it gave us some mobility. It was a good look and unbalanced the Eagles."
Wood is among a long list of St Kilda players yet to settle a new contract for the 2025 season, with the Moorabbin club having more than 20 players still unsigned beyond this season.
Josh Battle, Dan Butler,ย Ryan Byrnes,ย Dougal Howard,ย Zak Jones,ย Tim Membrey,ย Sebastian Ross,ย Cooper Sharman,ย Liam Stocker, andย Jimmy Webster join Wood, among others, in being off-contract heading into the second half of the season.
Quizzed on how critical the coming rounds are for the Saints to find form amid a period where players begin to weigh up their futures, Lyon said finding some good form over the next month plays a role in the club selling itself to players considering their futures both at St Kilda and elsewhere.
"I think that's an important part, I don't think it's everything," Lyon said.
"Brisbane did a good job of selling their club when they weren't winning many games. They had a lot of young players but they got some champs like Lachie Neale and (Charlie) Cameron.
"Our environment is really important, we give them a lot of time off. I think they get three days a week off, 16 hours in (at the club) and game day. That's as healthy as anyone in the comp. When they're in here we try to make it sharp, keep it balanced.
"Players would say win or loss that my demeanour hasn't really changed. That's really important to us.
"We sell Bayside, no better part of Melbourne now is there? It's all of those things.
"Seeing the upside... we played finals last year with a lot of young players and we've got some really good senior players in (Callum) Wilkie, (Rowan) Marshall, (Jack) Steele, (Jack) Sinclair, and some rising stars in Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, (Mitch) Owens, (Marcus) Windhager, (Mattaes) Phillipou. King is only 23 and is going to be a star of the comp.
"We feel we've got great leadership, a strong board, some huge sponsors. That's all part of the mix.
"Every club is going to run the same narrative, and you reward the right players. You spend the money where you need to."
The Saints currently sit 15th on the ladder with four wins from 12 games, with a win over the Suns potentially seeing Lyon's side rise as high as 12th by the end of the week.
St Kilda host the Queensland club at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night at 7:30pm (AEST).
