The Bombers meet the Saints at Etihad Stadium on Friday night and will be boosted by the inclusion of ruckman David Hille.
Essendon returned to the winners list last week with a gritty three-point win over North Melbourne and, while Knights said the scoreboard was pleasing, he was more encouraged by the performance as his team prepares for a side it has edged on the last two occasions.
“The last two games against the Saints have been titanic struggles and both games went down to the wire,” Knights said ahead of training on Thursday morning.
“They’ve been exciting football games and for all concerned it’d be good if it was the case that way tomorrow night, as long as we come off on the good side of the ledger.
“We are rank underdogs and it’s a big challenge, but it’s an important game for our club to play great sides like St Kilda ... they’ve pretty much got their full complement of players ready to go, so it’s a great test.”
Knights said while the Saints were in good touch - their skipper Nick Riewoldt showing signs against Hawthorn last week that his best football is not far away - he believed his men had turned a corner following their “shocking” form after the mid-season break.
“I think we certainly took a small step last week,” Knights said.
“I’m not saying that we’ve solved everything with our game but we’re sort of on the up a little bit after last week.”
Several Bombers are available after overcoming injury but Knights said Hille - who booted four goals in his team’s round-eight win over the Saints - was likely to be the only inclusion, the big man set to return after a long layoff with a hamstring injury.
“He’s probably our most important player, because he can play ruck and forward. We’re expecting David to compete and play his role but after seven weeks [on the sidelines] we’ve got to be realistic,” he said.
Jason Winderlich is expected to miss just one week with his broken hand, while Andrew Welsh will resume in the VFL after overcoming a groin injury.
Knights said captain Jobe Watson would be fit to play, declaring the midfielder was suffering a few “bumps and bruises” like most players but ruling out any strain to his sore calf muscle.
Watson took part in the Bombers’ brief training session at Windy Hill on Thursday morning - which largely involved goal kicking practice under the watchful eye of Brian Taylor - but did leave the track before the majority of his teammates.
