Star duo Rowan Marshall and Zak Jones will return from injury this weekend for St Kilda's crunch clash with AFL flag fancies Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
After two atrocious performances in the past three weeks, St Kilda's finals hopes will be precariously placed if they can't square their win-loss ledger at 3-3 on Sunday.
But after getting smashed at the stoppages by Richmond last week, coach Brett Ratten was optimistic that the inclusions of Marshall and Jones would strengthen his side in that area.
Despite the alarming manner in which the Saints lost to Essendon and Richmond in recent rounds, Ratten insisted he wasn't yet worried.
"The good thing for us is we're going to get two (key players) back this week ,we'll get two back next week, and then it'll sort of be one, one and one," Ratten said at Moorabbin on Thursday.
"So roughly we're going to get some soldiers back, and quality soldiers too. (Paddy) Ryder will play in the VFL this week and then probably play against Hawthorn."
However, Ratten insisted he hasn't "wiped the slate clean" and made sure he addressed the areas of most concern in the 86-point loss to Richmond.
"For us that's about making sure that we're consistent in all aspects of the game, so we're 2-3, the two losses have been really poor," he said.
Straight after the defeat to the Tigers, Ratten likened his team's form to a game of snakes and ladders, considering there was a fantastic comeback win against West Coast sandwiched in between.
"It's really around the mindset," he said. "Our defensive-50 stoppages, we've leaked the most goals in the competition and that's an area that reflects how hungry you are."
Hunter Clark (flu) is expected to take his place in the team against Port Adelaide but Jimmy Webster (groin) was only a "50-50" proposition.
Having been granted another Friday night primetime fixture in round nine against Geelong despite their recent form, Ratten was thankful to the AFL for the opportunity and said the Saints wanted to "repay" their supporters' faith by putting in a good showing against the Cats when time came.
