ST KILDA midfielder Luke Ball is unlikely to play in this Saturday’s semi-final clash against Collingwood.

Ball has spent more than a month recovering from a hamstring injury sustained against Port Adelaide in round 18 and Saints coach Ross Lyon said he would be hesitant to select any player with a fitness cloud hanging over their head.

“You look at teams taking unfit players into finals and you remember all the coaches saying they wished they hadn’t done that. You learn from their experiences and we won’t be taking anyone who won’t be able to compete for the full game,” Lyon said.

“It is critically important that we get an even team performance.”

Lyon said he was yet to make a final decision on Ball’s availability but said the decision rests with the club’s medical staff.

“He is rehabilitating and we’ll have a clearer picture on Thursday’s main session. He’ll continue the rehab program, make a final assessment on Thursday and let everyone know then,” he said.

“They have a number of boxes they work through for hamstring rehabilitation programs and it has graduated to the point where they’re running flat out and how many sessions they can run flat out and what workload they can sustain. Once they tick those boxes they become available.”

Lyon said coaches were becoming increasingly conservative with bringing players back from injury in an era that relied on frequent interchange rotations.

“It’s a fact that once you lose them early it makes it difficult. The AFL research shows that. You can win but it becomes less likely. We would be fools to take in a player at risk. Every club’s got to take those things into account.”

While Ball might have a small chance of playing, the St Kilda coach didn’t seem optimistic.

“The reality is he hasn’t played since the Port Power game and if we were dependent on Luke Ball’s performance we’re in a lot of trouble as a club.”

Ball has been one of St Kilda’s best on-ballers this year but Lyon said the Saints could cover for him in the most important area of the ground.

“If your midfield’s on top it provides a wonderful opportunity for your forwards and protects your defence a bit. They (Collingwood) have won the last three games against us and they’ll be full of confidence coming in,” he said.

“They have been close games and I’d like to think we’ve learnt a bit from the losses each time. We feel we can play some good footy this weekend.”