ST KILDA coach Brett Ratten has revealed wingman Jack Billings played through last week's shellacking at the hands of Richmond with a torn plantar fascia sustained in the warm-up.

Billings injured the ligament in his foot pre-match and battled on to collect 14 disposals from a season-low 78 per cent game time.

The 25-year-old is expected to be fit to tackle Port Adelaide on Sunday off a 10-day break after completing a near-full session at RSEA Park on Thursday.

No.1 ruckman Rowan Marshall will return from the same injury alongside speedy midfielder Zak Jones who missed against the Tigers with soreness.

"He (Marshall) tore his plantar fascia (in round four against West Coast)… so did Jack Billings before in the warm-up last week, tore it and still played which was a fantastic effort for him to get through under duress," coach Brett Ratten said.

"Marshall's fine. If that game was an extra two days, if it was a seven-day (break), he would've played against Richmond. Jones would've played as well, it's just too risky and he was too sore."

IN THE MIX Who's pushing for selection?

The Saints were put through a physical hitout on Thursday as they attempt to address the 86-point drubbing at the hands of the Tigers where they were bullied around the contest.

Ratten lamented the clearance dominance (44-28) of the Tigers against a Saints engine room stocked full of inside midfielders including Jack Steele, Jack Bytel, Brad Crouch, Seb Ross and Luke Dunstan.

Jones will add to that group this week, with further changes expected at selection on Saturday afternoon which includes the possibility of Ryan Byrnes after one game back in the VFL.

"The players and what positional players we had available, there wasn't a lot of choice," Ratten said of the loss to the Tigers.

"That was one way we had to go, and we had to be pretty good at it. If you take a team in that plays a certain way, you've got to have your one-wood and play it pretty well.

"It didn't work for us, we took some inside mids in and we got exposed in that part of the game which you'd think you'd be pretty solid in."

Half-back/midfielder Hunter Clark missed Thursday's session and was sent for a COVID-19 test after being struck down with the flu.

While the Saints hope Clark will be fit to face the Power, Darragh Joyce appears a selection contender after training with the preferred 'A' team in his absence in the 18-versus-18 match simulation.

Last week's medical substitute Ben Long featured in the same side which included Jake Carlisle alongside Marshall. 

Ratten declared defender Jimmy Webster a 50-50 proposition after missing most of the session with the groin injury that forced him to be subbed out against the Tigers.

Paddy Ryder will play his first minutes in the VFL on Saturday since returning from personal leave in the hope of playing AFL against Hawthorn in round seven.