St Kilda could expose two new faces it recruited at either end of the pre-season – Mattaes Phillipou and Anthony Caminiti – when Ross Lyon starts his second chapter against his old side Fremantle at Marvel Stadium on Sunday. 

The Saints used pick No.10 in last November's AFL Draft to select Phillipou following an impressive underage career for Woodville-West Torrens and South Australia.  

The 18-year-old put his hand up for a spot against the Dockers with eye-catching moments against Melbourne (two goals) and Essendon (15 disposals, one goal) across the two practice matches at RSEA Park. 

"No rabbits in the hat. Caminiti has come from the clouds, hasn't he? It is likely that we'll have those two as debutants, Phillipou and Caminiti," Lyon told reporters at RSEA Park on Wednesday. 

"We need to get through today's session and Friday. Hopefully they get to the line, but it is looking likely. That's exciting. With [Mitch] Owens and Caminiti, we could build something here over the longer term. That's how I'm approaching it."

With Max King requiring a shoulder reconstruction in December and Jack Hayes to miss the first half of the season with a foot injury – before Tim Membrey underwent knee surgery in February – St Kilda has had to alter its attacking plans before the season has even started. 

That led the Saints to invite Caminiti to audition for a spot on the rookie list in the closing stages of the pre-season supplemental selection period, before the club offered him a contract at the end of his second training session following a dominant match sim performance at RSEA Park. 

Caminiti started the week by sitting a Linear Algebra exam on Labour Day, but the 19-year-old is expected to end the week playing alongside Owens.

St Kilda will struggle for key targets inside 50 early in the season with King expected to miss at least the first six rounds of the season and Hayes sidelined for the first half of the season due to a foot injury that is taking longer to recover than expected. 

Lyon revealed on Wednesday morning that Membrey could miss the first month of the season after undergoing an arthroscope on his knee a month ago. 

"It just hasn't panned out as quick as we liked. He'll get back, but it's certainly not going to be next week. It could be round four, five or six," Lyon said.

"They went in and did an arthroscope. They trimmed a couple of fibres. A little bit of grunginess. They are just trying to get him going. He was running around like a gazelle but he felt it clunking getting in and out of the car, so that's what stimulated it."

Former first-round pick Liam Stocker is also in the frame to face Justin Longmuir's side just six months after being delisted by Carlton, following 28 appearances across four seasons at Princes Park. 

Second-year midfielder-forward Marcus Windhager remains a chance to feature, despite undergoing surgery after breaking his hand against the Bombers and being limited at training on Wednesday. 

Lyon said he addressed the playing group after an unedited audio file from the box during the practice match against Essendon was uploaded to a League-wide database but didn't feel the need to apologise to the playing group for the mistake. 

"Look it was a little distraction, it was an error. I ran into Chris Scott and he said: 'What were you doing taping it?' It wasn't meant to be taped," he said.

"I was really quite relaxed, we were playing quite well. The likelihood of it being in someone's possession and them doing something with it was low, but you can't ambush the players with it, them waking up one day with it in the press. 

"There certainly was no forced apology, there was no apology, it was this has occurred. We've gone through it and there are a couple of marginal bits. I could have walked in and said there is nothing to worry about, but it's not for me to make the judgement. It's for the person. A few of them giggled and walked out. There is no real issue."

After more than three-and-a-half years out of the coaches' box, Lyon will return to the caper this weekend, in a fitting fixture against his old side.

"It feels like yesterday, but it has been three-and-a-half years. It is a privilege (to be back)," he said.