St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has backed his young forwards after a disappointing goal-kicking effort in their AFL loss to Greater Western Sydney.
The Saints performed well in most other areas against the in-form Giants at Spotless Stadium on Saturday but inaccuracy cost them any chance of an upset win.
They had 22 more inside 50s than the Giants by halftime but kicked just 3.10 and their finally tally of 8.13 left them 25 points behind GWS.
The fiercely competitive performance gave Richardson some succour, even if it didn't add to their modest tally of four wins.
They remain 15th on the ladder with four rounds to go.
"These are really important games for our footy club, important games for our players," Richardson said.
"There will be some young blokes getting an opportunity.
"We've obviously had a challenging year but this post-break period has been much better for us.
"Today was a performance that while we got a lot right, we weren't able to finish off our hard work and that will be a focus going forward."
The Saints have struggled to kick big scores and winning totals.
"We have a lot of young players who are starting to get in that 40 50 games, players that are really starting to build their career," Richardson said.
"That means at times we can be a little bit inconsistent and we're a pretty young forward line with (Rowan) Marshall, (Josh) Battle, et cetera.
"They are getting more games against quality opposition and they will improve and grow from that."
