ST KILDA will target an internal practice match next Friday to get veteran Leigh Montagna fit ahead of round one after a calf strain sidelined him for the entire JLT Community Series. 

Montagna suffered the injury in mid-February and was kept out of the Saints' final pre-season game against Sydney on Sunday, putting him in doubt for the round one clash against Melbourne on March 25.  

Football manager Jamie Cox said the 33-year-old was still in contention for the Demons clash and the club could also use Sandringham's VFL practice match against Werribee on March 18 to get game minutes into Montagna.        

"There's that VFL game there, and we'll have a pretty solid internal session on the Friday between JLT four and round one," Cox told AFL.com.au. 

"Both of those are in play if we think he's a genuine chance and we just need to build up his workload.

"He's no guarantee at this stage, but he's tracking well and we’re still considering him for round one. 

"There's a few other football discussions around whether he's actually done enough work, but someone of that experience, there's a good case to back him in."

Cox said Montagna, who trained at Seaford on Thursday, was on the cusp of a full training load after three weeks in trainers.    

"He's about to get the boots back on and he's tracking exactly as we'd like him to," Cox said.   

"Whether that gets him into round one, he'd be hopeful and we're hopeful as well at this stage."

Montagna, who shifted to the backline last season, also missed St Kilda's first intraclub match on February 16.   

The 271-game veteran has proven durable over his career, playing 20 games or more a season in all but one year since 2006.