MELBOURNE expects star midfielder Bernie Vince and young defender Oscar McDonald will be fit to play against St Kilda on Sunday.

Vince copped a knock to the shin early in last Saturday night's game against Fremantle in Darwin and played out the match in noticeable pain, while McDonald injured his ankle in the third quarter of the Dockers clash and was on crutches immediately after the game.

Melbourne coach Paul Roos told reporters a final decision would be made on Vince and McDonald, who were both named in the Demons' squad of 25 on Thursday night, after the team's main training session on Friday.

"(Vince) ran earlier in the week, I'd say he's 99.9 (per cent to play) at this stage," Roos said on Friday morning.

"And Oscar ran pretty well yesterday so we're expecting both of those guys to play.

"We just obviously need to tick them off today. You don't want to take guys in at this time of the year who are underdone and can't get through the main training session."

On Sunday, spearhead Chris Dawes will play his first game since he was dropped after the round 15 loss to Adelaide, when he runs out for Melbourne's VFL affiliate Casey against Footscray. The Scorpions had a bye last weekend.

Dawes has played just four senior games this season after a pre-season calf injury sidelined him until May.

The key forward is in the final season of the four-year deal he signed with Melbourne when he crossed from Collingwood at the end of the 2012 season.

Asked whether he envisaged Dawes being part of the Demons' best 22 beyond this year, Roos said others at Melbourne would make that decision given his impending departure as senior coach.

But Roos said Dawes could force his way back into the Melbourne team if he played the way he had in his return game in round 11.

"When he probably first came back into the team that's the way we want him to play. He had some really good form leading in from the VFL," Roos said.

"I guess I've said - which has been positive for us - all along this year there's less margin for error.

"In previous seasons guys like 'Dawesy' and other guys like 'Buggy' (Tom Bugg) and (Ben) Kennedy when they went back (they) would have probably stayed in the team.

"Our VFL team is doing really well and playing really consistent footy, so it's as much about rewarding them and then making sure that when guys go back they're really clear on what they need to do.

"But if he plays the way he did in the VFL and I think in the first game back in the seniors then he'll get back in the team."

The Demons will be trying to break a 13-game losing streak against St Kilda on Sunday.

Roos downplayed the significance of that streak, saying Melbourne had recently broken "hoodoos" at Etihad Stadium, against Fremantle and in its traditional Queen's Birthday clash against Collingwood.

"It's just part of our evolution as a footy team. We've got to break those hoodoos," the Demons coach said.

"The better we play the more likely we are to do that."