ST KILDA'S Nathan Wright is set to miss the club's round one clash with Greater Western Sydney after suffering a suspected thigh strain in Thursday night's NAB Challenge loss to Hawthorn.

 

It wasn't the only injury concern for the Saints in the 106-point thrashing, with veteran midfielder Leigh Montagna also substituted out of the game with a knee injury.

 

The club will have both players scanned on Friday to assess the damage, and although confident Montagna will be fit to face the Giants they are less hopeful on Wright, who was set for a more prominent role in his third season. 

 

"'Wrighty' had a tough night. He got stood on and came off the ground with some bruising on the foot. He went back out and got pushed as he was kicking as it looks like he might have done something to his thigh and adductor region," Saints coach Alan Richardson said after the game.

 

"[Montagna] gave his knee a tweak, so we'll scan that in the morning. We're very optimistic. The doctors are pretty confident that 'Joey' (Montagna) should be OK, so time will tell.

 

"Wright looks unlikely now [for round one]. He'd need a bit of luck with the scan but their early diagnosis is that he's given it a fair old tweak and done a bit of damage, but we'll know a bit more in the morning."

 

Richardson expects experienced options Jarryn Geary, Shane Savage and David Armitage to be available for round one, but that second-year midfielder Jack Billings was unlikely to be picked for the senior team after his hamstring strain.

 

Although Richardson acknowledged the task his youthful squad faced against a Hawthorn outfit brimming with premiership experience, the coach was unhappy with how it played out.  

 

"We need to learn from it," he said.

 

"It was a disappointing performance. We got beaten really, really convincingly in the contest. They made us look like kids at times, the way they brushed us off when we tried to tackle and the way they applied pressure to us."