ST KILDA pair Brendon Goddard and Sean Dempster are expected to be fit to play Collingwood this week, despite suffering what appeared to be serious injuries during the Saints' clash with Fremantle.

Justin Koschitzke is also expected to return after he was rested from the game because of concerns over his troublesome ankle.

Goddard and Dempster were hospitalised during the clash after suffering neck and head injuries.

Goddard was floored after an accidental hit from teammate Zac Dawson, but assistant coach Steven King said he had been cleared of serious injury.

"He felt a little bit of a crack in his neck. He wasn't sure what that was and he felt some pins and needles down his arm; it was more nerve-related. He had the X-rays and scans in Perth and it all came back pretty positive," King said.

King was adamant that it was Koschitzke's ankle that kept him out of the game rather than head-injury concerns, despite some suggestions to the contrary.

"We had scans from a couple of knocks he received in the head but it was his ankle that kept him out. With any player that cops a knock we are pretty cautious and make sure they get scans," he said.

"It was his ankle, he's had about three operations on it over the pre-season and it pulled up a bit sore. We thought with the flight over to Perth it would be best to keep him home and freshen him up for this week."

Forgotten big man Michael Gardiner is also eyeing a return in the coming weeks after missing the entire first half of the season with a knee injury.

The veteran ruckman has not played at any level since last year's drawn Grand Final against Collingwood, but King said he was looking at returning by about round 15.

"It's the best he's felt for a couple of years; he said that to me during the week. That is a real positive. He's had some pretty chronic tendinitis in his knee, which I think he is getting over now," King said.

"We don't want Michael to come back straight away and break down from soft-tissue injuries. We are trying to fit that pre-season training, get that base into him now and make sure that when he's back he is right to go for the rest of the year. Hopefully after the bye [in round 14]."

The Saints face the Magpies this week for the first time since last year's Grand Final replay and King admitted the pain of the heavy defeat still lingered.

"I think if you ask anyone who has lost a Grand Final and they would be lying if they said they didn't think about it or that it didn't have some sort of impact," he said.

"We have dealt with it and moved on. You can't change what has happened in the past. It is going to be a really good measure for us to test ourselves against one of the best teams in the competition."

Luke Holmesby covers St Kilda news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_LHolmesby.