ST KILDA coach Alan Richardson refused to blame a lopsided 8-23 free-kick count for St Kilda’s 19-point loss to West Coast at Domain Stadium on Saturday night.

Instead, Richardson targeted his midfield which he said wilted under a late onslaught from the experienced Eagles onball brigade which took control of the centre bounces and went on to win 18.8 (116) to 13.19 (97) despite not hitting the front for the first time until time-on in the last term.

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"The 23 (frees) against I thought we were a bit sloppy," Richardson said.

"Our want is to be aggressive and get after the opposition … I would have thought there was a chance for a couple of our guys when they tackled and dispossessed to possibly get a free kick.

"There's not a lot of noise, West Coast fans are hardly going to yell out 'holding the ball ump' when we are tackling. I am not sure whether that puts pressure on umpires or reinforces what they might or might not have seen. I don’t know.

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"But it did look like we were perhaps a little bit unlucky; but with respect to our team giving away free kicks, I think we were a little bit sloppy at times, we got them high too much."

Richardson admitted that ruckman Tom Hickey, who had been superb all night against Nathan Vardy and Jonathan Giles, had tired which may have played a part in the Eagles' late domination.

"Yes, there was a bit of that. We liked and we needed Brucey (Josh Bruce) to stay forward a bit more tonight just for contest-wise because they are a strong-marking defensive unit," Richardson said.

"There's no doubt we would have liked to have given Hickey a bit more of a rest but just on balance we needed him to stick at it.

"It could have been a bit of a factor."

Midfielder Jack Steven was taken to hospital for precautionary X-rays after a heavy knock to his chest late in the match.

The Saints confirmed Steven had sustained a punctured lung and would be staying overnight in hospital for observation.

Richardson was also hopeful that stalwart Nick Riewoldt (knee) and midfielder David Armitage (groin) will be able to return from injury for next Sunday’s clash with the Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium.

"His (Riewoldt’s) training has been quite positive (but) he's got to get to the next step," Richardson said.

"He's just running at this stage. The next step is ball work and the more aggressive lateral stuff, he's going to put a bit of strain through the knee and when he steps it up it depends on how he responds given there is a bit of bone bruising.

"Look he is a slight chance I reckon for this week. You never rule him out, he’s a bit of a freak like that.

"He's an incredibly professional person and knows his body as well as anyone I've ever worked with in the game so we'll just have to wait and see on that one."

But Richardson said he was happy with the output of key forward Paddy McCartin, who booted 2.3 from 12 possessions in Riewoldt’s absence at Domain Stadium.

"I thought Paddy was pretty important for us today. He didn't get a lot of marks but we know that West Coast defenders mark the ball a lot, no greater example than (Jeremy) McGovern," he said.

"(Elliott) Yeo had a period where he got hold of us but by and large our forwards did a pretty good job in terms of bringing the ball to ground."