St Kilda's torrid run on the injury front from Saturday's loss to Brisbane will likely open the door for several quality players who have been banging down the door in recent weeks.

The Saints lost first-year player Mitch Owens to a brutal head knock with Lincoln McCarthy just before half-time, before Daniel McKenzie was forced from the action a minute into the third term after falling awkwardly in a marking contest.

Zak Jones followed shortly after with a hamstring issue, leaving the Saints with just two rotations in the final term.

It might just be the unfortunate, but fortuitous, opening for the likes of Jack Billings and Hunter Clark, who again lined up in the VFL for Sandringham's interstate match against Southport after respective injury lay-offs.

Billings was among the best in the Zebras' 44-point defeat to finish with a game-high 32 disposals and a goal, while Clark was solid and showed signs of his creativity from his 24 touches.

Cooper Sharman kicked four in his first game back in the reserves after a three-week stint at senior level, Ryan Byrnes closed out his afternoon with 26 possessions, while Tom Highmore will hope to be in the frame after entering AFL Health & Safety Protocols last week. Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera will also be eyeing off a swift return after being managed for Round 13.

"From an injury front you say it was a disaster," Ratten said post-match.

"Owens the head clash, then McKenzie's one, I don't know how that will stack up, I'll let others work that one out.

"And then Jones with a hamstring, so tipping he won't play on a six-day (break) with a hamstring. He'll miss a bit of time."

While injuries had a major part in hampering the Saints' charge after the major break, the Lions nonetheless outpointed their wounded opposition with seven goals to three to bank an important win heading into the bye.

Despite challenging the top-four fancies throughout the night, skill errors and costly turnovers highlighted the work left to do to secure a September berth.

"I thought we showed some real glimpses, but we need to be better than that," he said.

"We had moments in the game, moments where we played really well. We just didn't have enough of them."We got to about 10 minutes in (the last quarter) and thought 'we're just hanging in here'.

"There was a couple of little opportunities, but then it just became an avalanche at the end and we were just hanging in there with 10, 12, 14 minutes to go."