St Kilda has vowed not to fall into the complacency trap against injury-decimated Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Saints coach Alan Richardson said while the plan to combat Gary Ablett could now be shelved, the focus quickly shifted to the hungry Suns players among the forced seven changes.
"Obviously, Ablett is a fantastic player and the focus of most teams," Richardson said. "When you come up against a player of that calibre, it (Ablett out) does change things a bit and it can become a challenge to make sure your group gets clarity on what's expected.
"But we've had time to plan and have those conversations."
Richardson will demand the Saints' improved pressure around the ball, that held normally free-scoring North Melbourne to only four goals in the first three quarters last week, be repeated against Gold Coast who won by 40 points in their last meeting at Metricon Stadium in round 15 last season.
"They're really bold with the way they move the ball and we'll need to be at our best to slow them down.
"If they can get that on their terms, they can be a hard team to defend because it gives them quality looks to their two big forwards (Tom Lynch and Peter Wright) and they have real talent at the fall of the ball," he said.
Richardson conceded young forward Paddy McCartin was unlucky not to be recalled, but the coach had kept faith in the group that turned around the team's form last round.
"Throw in the bye and we hadn't won for a month after a really positive start to the season. So, if the team was fit and available, it was going to be unchanged," the Saints coach said.
"It didn't matter if it was Tom Hickey, or Jack Steele, or Paddy, this was a week we said to the boys who got the job done for the footy club and for our cause, well done, you've turned it around and we weren't going to change the team.
"From a form perspective, Paddy's a little unlucky. His last two performances were really heading the right way. It just so happened he went out of the side through injury and the team was able to turn things around."
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