ST KILDA onballer Leigh Montagna says the club is still confident of playing finals football despite slipping to ninth on the back of a disappointing effort away to West Coast.

The Saints were upset by the 15th-placed Eagles on Saturday but Montagna denied the loss had left their finals aspirations up in the air.

"I think our destiny's still in our own hands. If we win three or four of our last five games then we are going to play finals," Montagna told saints.com.au.

"I mean, we can't control the other results ... but we can certainly control how many games we win for the rest of the season."

Montagna was adamant the defeat had not affected confidence as St Kilda attempts to make its way up a congested ladder in the run to September.

"We've addressed that. We've had a really good month of footy – and even the first half against West Coast – so we can't really let that knock our confidence. We've got to look at the areas we can improve and move on.

"Confidence amongst the group hasn't dropped at all."

The Saints might have been in fifth spot had they managed a win at Subiaco, but Montagna says the result only highlights the dangers of making finals predictions on the basis of  a team's draw.

"We've got to be very careful of looking at the fixture and the ladder and those sorts of things from here on in," he said.

"For the next five weeks I'm pretty sure the ladder is going to chop and change quite a bit; there are so many teams on the same amount of points.

"We look at Port Adelaide this week and if we win this game that's going to put us in a little bit of a better state.

"But then again the week after comes along and we're going to have to do it again. So it's got to be all about just focusing on each week and making sure that we do the right things to give ourselves every opportunity."

Click here to read the full interview with Leigh Montagna