LEIGH Montagna has been given an extra week to recover from the knee injury that ruled him out of the Saints 28-point win over Gold Coast last weekend.
Head Physiotherapist Andrew Wallis suggested St Kilda would take a cautious approach with Montagna given how early it is in the season and his age.
“We’ve decided to rule Leigh out this week so he can recover from his knee arthroscopy,” Wallis told SAINTS.com.au.
“He’s progressed alright but it’s still a little bit sore to run. We’ll give him the extra week and he will be right for next week.”
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Montagna returned earlier than expected for St Kilda’s round one match against GWS, collecting 24 disposals and laying nine tackles in the Saints nine-point loss.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Webster will return to action this weekend after recovering from a finger injury that has sidelined him since the intra club.
Although the 21-year-old will almost certainly regain his match fitness via the VFL on Sunday rather than for the Saints on Friday night, his return to football is a signficant boost to St Kilda’s defensive stocks.
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Two fitness tests were held at training on Tuesday, with both Adam Schneider and Spencer White likely to be available for selection this week.
Schneider was a late withdrawal on Saturday night with a corked quad, while White looked lively in the first term for Sandringham but took no further part in the match.
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Both players have been listed as a ‘test.’
“Spencer rolled his ankle on the weekend but ran today, so he should be fine,” Wallis said.
“We tested Adam today and he ran well… So he just has to get through training and he will be available for selection.”
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In more good news, experienced defender Sam Gilbert is close to returning from a nagging foot complaint following a steady stint of training.
“Sam has been full training for a while now so we just need to get some more load into him,” Wallis said.
“We would expect that he will play in the VFL next week.”
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Jimmy Webster will return to action this week after breaking his finger.
