St Kilda Senior Coach Brett Ratten says Saturday’s match against Gold Coast has all the makings of another tight contest considering the clubs’ recent history with one another.

With the past four meetings between the two sides being decided by under a goal, Ratten said he’s expecting the spirited Suns to come out firing.

“I think it’s going to be a tight contest,” Ratten told media on Thursday morning.

“Gold Coast are a running team. They’ve got really good endurance athletes that work extremely hard.

“Their pressure is enormous. You can only do that if you’re getting numbers to the ball, they do that consistently and we’re going to have to work extremely hard.”

The Saints and Suns currently sit level after the first seven rounds with a 3-4 record, with the latter coming off an impressive win against Collingwood last Saturday.

“I thought their work rate from contest to contest (against Collingwood) was extremely good,” Ratten said.

“That allowed them to win the ball or pressure the opposition. They did that very well. They’re not going to give us time and space and we’ll have to try and take that away from them as well.

“It’s going to be a tight game. They can probably say they match up pretty well against us too.

“Our challenge will be making it two in a row. We haven’t done that this year.”

Ratten hinted at an unchanged line-up for Saturday’s match, despite promising auditions from Luke Dunstan, Tom Highmore and Jack Lonie in the VFL.

Daniel McKenzie will no longer be available since suffering a minor tweak to his calf, while veteran defenders James Frawley and Jake Carlisle are expected to build towards senior returns following their respective injuries.