PADDY McCartin's was "unlucky" not to be selected in St Kilda's side to face Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with coach Alan Richardson feeling unable to change a winning team. 

The Saints started the season 5-3 but fell into a rut, losing three consecutive games. They turned that around with a scrappy 17-point win against North Melbourne last week, a contest McCartin missed with bone bruising in his knee. 

"The team, if they were fit and available, was going to be unchanged," Richardson said at Moorabbin on Saturday.

"It didn't matter if it was Tom Hickey, Jack Steele, or if it was Paddy, this was a week that we were saying to the boys who got the job done for the footy club and for our cause, 'well done, you've turned it around.'" 

McCartin, 21, will line up for Sandringham against Coburg at Trevor Barker Beach Oval on Saturday in the VFL. 

"Paddy was playing well. From that perspective, Paddy's a little bit unlucky," Richardson said. 

"His last two performances were really heading the right way and really promising.

"It just so happened that he went out of the team through injury, the team was able to turn things around and the coach has said we're not making a change. He just needs to keep working on his game." 

McCartin, who was drafted with the first overall selection in 2014, picked up 15 disposals and a goal in each of his last two senior games, against Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs.

Steele was dropped for the clash with the Kangaroos but the Zebras had a bye last week in the VFL. He will play in the same side as McCartin on Saturday.

"Steeley's last couple of games have lacked a little bit of what he has brought to the team, in terms of his really dynamic energy," Richardson said.

"That's understandable. He's still relatively young in his career." 

Meanwhile, Jack Billings and Dylan Roberton will be out-of-contract at the end of the season, but Richardson said deals for both players were close. 

"Those talks are fairly advanced, with respect to what the players are after and what we're after," Richardson said.

"It's not just about the money, it's about where do they fit in. It's pretty obvious that those guys, they're important to us.

"They (the negotiations) are heading the way we'd like."