St Kilda key forward Paddy McCartin remains a chance to return before the Saints opening round game against Port Adelaide on March 27, despite suffering a minor hamstring strain in Saturday’s NAB Challenge loss to North Melbourne.

The 2014 No. 1 draft pick suffered the injury in the opening quarter of the 44-point loss to the Kangaroos and took no further part in the encounter as the Saints opted to take a cautious approach with their prized recruit.

Saints Director of Coaching & Development Danny Sexton told reporters during his post-match press conference that it was too early to determine the severity of the injury at this stage. But given the time of the year it wasn’t worth taking a risk with a soft tissue injury.

“He'll get monitored throughout the week. First game of the year, it clearly wasn't worth risking sending him back out there but he was just a little bit tight in the hamstring," Sexton said.
 
"The doctors have said they'll monitor his condition throughout the week and no doubt when these things happen they get scans and he'll be assessed in the right way.
 
"An assessment will be made on (on his return date) when they have more information."

St Kilda went into Saturday’s NAB Challenge clash with the intention of fostering the partnership between McCartin and fellow key forward Josh Bruce.

With Nick Riewoldt in the twilight of his decorated career, the pair hold the keys to the Saints fortunes in attack in the future and Sexton said the signs have been bright over the summer months.

"We had a really good look at how they worked together last week and it was effective," Sexton said.

"Probably for us and our fans we were excited to see how they would jell today especially with the little nippy blokes getting around at their feet, Billings, (Jack) Lonie and (Jack) Sinclair.
 
"Clearly with Nick (Riewoldt) not there today it gave an opportunity for (Tom) Hickey as the second ruckman and McCartin and Bruce.
 
"To not have Paddy after the first 10 minutes of the game was disappointing."