EXPERIENCED St Kilda midfielder David Armitage is pushing hard for a recall, but coach Alan Richardson concedes the Saints made a mistake by rushing the leader back into the side before he was ready.
Meanwhile, defender Dylan Roberton will undergo further tests before he is cleared to return to football. Roberton collapsed on the field as a result of an irregular heartbeat when the Saints played Geelong in round four.
Armitage, 29, has been named best afield the last two weeks for Sandringham in the VFL after losing his place in the Saints' side following the loss to Adelaide in round three.
He missed all but three games last season as a result of a long-term groin injury that required two bouts of surgery and two months of complete rest.
"David missed a lot of footy and his performance reflected that," Richardson said.
"I'll put my hand up… we probably got him back in the team too early. We're a pretty young group and it was tempting to have someone of Dave's experience and his physicality in the group to support those younger mids in particular.
"It just didn't look like he was as dynamic as he needed to be at AFL level. He's still got a little bit of work to do but his attitude has been outstanding as we'd expect from Dave and his form has been solid, so he's heading in the right way."
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Speaking at Melbourne Airport as the team flew out for Launceston on Friday afternoon for Saturday night's clash against Hawthorn, Richardson confirmed Roberton had a procedure on Thursday and said the defender's welfare was paramount.
"Unfortunately it's a little bit vague for our fans, but he's having ongoing tests. He had procedure yesterday, the results are yet to come out of that," Richardson said.
"He's getting really good support and we hope that he's back sooner rather than later, but he's still in the hands of the experts and at this stage they're going to keep testing to make sure he's right to go."
The Saints have made one change to their line-up for the clash with the Hawks, with important defender Jimmy Webster replacing first-year midfielder Hunter Clark.
Richardson is hoping the Saints can repeat the effort they showed against Greater Western Sydney where they fought out a thrilling draw last week.
There was plenty of debate about whether Jake Carlisle deserved a free kick inside forward 50 (his resultant shot at goal would have given St Kilda the lead) after Giant Phil Davis' controversial spoiling attempt.
Richardson admitted he sought clarity from the AFL's umpiring department about the spoil, but remained coy as to what was discussed.
"I made a call to the umpires about a couple of things and got some clarity off Hayden Kennedy (umpires' coach) and we were in agreeance [that] if the umpire was in a different position it might've been paid, but given where the umpire was, the right call was made."
