ST KILDA will be without small forward Jack Higgins for a second straight week, but the Saints are hoping to regain star forward Max King within a month.
The Saints were smashed by injuries again last weekend, losing Seb Ross (hamstring), Jack Billings (thumb) and Zaine Cordy (concussion) as well as King in the 21-point loss to Melbourne last Saturday night.
Higgins won't make the trip north to face Gold Coast at Heritage Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon due to a lingering knee issue.
Bradley Hill (knee) and Josh Battle (concussion) also missed the loss to the Demons at Marvel Stadium, but the pair is on track to make the trip to Queensland.
"No, Higgins won't play," St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said at RSEA Park on Thursday morning.
"He is feeling really good, but the treatment he has had has delayed him. He had an injection to relieve a bit of the pain. Certainly Hill and Battle (will play)."
King was initially set to have a shoulder reconstruction that would have ruled him out until early in the new year, but has since undergone an arthroscope on his left shoulder instead that could see him play again before the end of the season.
St Kilda head of football David Misson said if everything goes to plan, King will be available to face Richmond at Marvel Stadium in round 22 or Geelong at the same venue a week later.
"It's probably four or five weeks (best-case scenario)," Misson said.
"He had an arthroscope yesterday, which was essentially a wash out of the joint. He subluxed it in the game on Saturday night. The encouraging news from the surgeon is there is an opportunity to attempt to rehab it in the short-term to get him back to play at some point this season."
The 23-year-old has delayed surgery until after the season and will now spend the coming weeks focusing on strengthening his shoulder in a bid to play a role in St Kilda's charge towards September and a potential finals campaign.
"It won't be a reconstruction. It will be a Latarjet procedure, which is pretty common for people who have already had a traditional reconstruction and that's failed. That's what has happened with Max. That will happen whenever our season finishes," Misson said.
"The surgeon has assured two things: if he does sublux again when he does come back to play it won't damage the joint further and importantly whenever he does have the Latarjet it won't compromise his pre-season."
St Kilda heads north to face a Gold Coast side that is dealing with the sacking of senior coach Stuart Dew earlier in the week.
Steven King has been appointed interim coach and will lead the Suns against the Saints, who sit a game outside the top four but only a game inside the top eight.
