MELBOURNE midfielder Jordan Gysberts believes the new substitute rule has had a significant bearing in the Saints 20-point win over Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

With the Saints holding a two-goal lead at the final break, the young Demons ran out of legs while St Kilda substitute Jamie Cripps kicked two vital goals in the final term.

Melbourne was forced to use their substitute Matthew Bate early in the first quarter following a serious hamstring injury to defender Luke Tapscott, while Cripps replaced Arryn Siposs at the three-quarter time break.

"We had Tapscott go down early which didn't help," Gysberts told melbournefc.com.au after the match.

"We had to use our substitute early. Their substitute really had an impact."

The loss of Tapscott early also caused headaches for Melbourne coach Dean Bailey in the coach's box as the side was forced to deal with another injury to add to the club's mounting injury list.

Gysberts admitted the recent spate of injuries had impacted on the cohesion of the side, with the likes of Mark Jamar, Jack Grimes, Tom Scully, Austin Wonaeamirri, Rohan Bail, Colin Garland and Jake Spencer all sidelined by injury.

Compounding the Demons' casualty list is the suspension of pair Jack Trengove and Lynden Dunn, with the latter available for selection against the Blues next week.

"We have a really core group that sticks together. We do have guys that keep coming through but once we all get to start to know each other a bit better out on the field that will help a lot more," the 19-year said when asked about the side's inconsistent start this season.

With Bailey during the week imploring his players to expose the Saints' lack of pace and take the game up to Ross Lyon's men, Gysberts said he was pleased how his teammates responded following their demoralising 41-point loss to North Melbourne last week.

"It was good to see us not going back into our shells and backing ourselves after the performance last week," he said after the Demons squandered a four-goal lead at quarter-time the previous week against the Kangaroos.

"We really took the game on against a team that played off in a Grand Final last year. We showed we can do it, we just need to put together a four-quarter performance."

Gysberts said he was eagerly anticipating the Demons first Friday night clash this season against Carlton at the MCG and hoped his side could get their season back on track with victory against the much-improved Blues.

"It's a really big game. Hopefully we can bounce back and get a win. They are travelling pretty well this year so it should be a good contest."