COACH Paul Roos says he doesn’t expect St Kilda to be dramatically different, when the two teams go head-to-head again for just the second time in just over a month.   

Melbourne will play St Kilda at the MCG on Sunday, after falling two points short against the Saints in round 11 at Etihad Stadium. Roos said he didn’t expect too many surprises, given the close scheduling between both matches.  

“The game’s at the MCG, the conditions will be different and some of the personnel, but you’ll draw on what they’re trying to do as a footy club and that’s similar to us. [St Kilda coach] Richo (Alan Richardson) will draw on what we did against them,” he said on Roos’ Views.

“So it’s quite strange the way the draw is, when we haven’t played Carlton yet and we’re playing St Kilda for the second time. It gives you an idea of how unusual the draw can be.”

Roos said there was a chance that the Demons and Saints could start a rivalry as both sides continue to develop.

“Possibly, they’ve got a younger group, but they’ve still got a lot of really experienced older players that have been through that era of playing through Grand Finals – [Nick] Riewoldt, [Sam] Fisher, [Adam] Schneider and [Leigh] Montagna – so they’re still a pretty experienced team,” he said.

“But they still have a lot of young guys coming in, as we do, so it’s great when you see two teams [emerging]. [Luke] Dunstan versus [Angus] Brayshaw for instance – young guys playing on young guys and seeing their development compared to our development.

“It was a close game last time and they’ve played some pretty good football as well, so it should be a tough game.”

With just six players on Melbourne’s injury list this week – a big improvement from the 12 it had unavailable when it defeated Geelong at Simonds Stadium in round 12 – Roos said selection was becoming an interesting situation.  

“We’ve got guys coming back in and the Casey boys have been playing really well, so that’s been terrific. We had a good win again on the weekend and they’re in really good form,” he said.

“Sometimes you need to give [players] a bit of a breather and a rest, so we’ll look at selection this week and maybe promote a couple of guys, because you’ve got to keep promoting guys who are playing well, but also look at some of the younger players.

“It’s a good position to be in, because we did go through a pretty tough time with injuries, so to get players back is good.”

Roos said ruckman Mark Jamar could be a chance to be recalled to the team after some outstanding form with Casey.

“It’s a bit of a battle at the moment with Spence (Jake Spencer), Russian (Jamar) and Gawny (Max Gawn). They’re all in really, really good form and early in the season Spence got in first and then Gawny got in,” he said.

“Russian hasn’t been out of form – he’s had some things he needed to work on – but Max played really well on the weekend, so there is a bit of a battle for that spot.

“Max has probably got his nose ahead at the moment.”

Youngster Jayden Hunt has been in fine form in the past three matches for Casey, after overcoming a back injury, but Roos said the second-year Demon was still building his game after being sidelined early in the year.

“I think he’s a fair way off. He’s still a young player who started in the Development League and had an injury to his back and hasn’t done a lot of training,” he said.

“It’s good that he’s starting to slowly get the tempo of the VFL and he’s using his speed and using his attributes. But I’d love to see him play some good footy for the rest of the year.

“That’s his most immediate challenge – to continue his form that he’s been displaying in the last couple of weeks.”

Roos said long-kicking left-footer Dean Kent could be rested this week after returning via the AFL Victoria Development League, following an 11-week layoff with a hamstring injury. Kent felt some tightness in his hamstring last weekend.

“[It’s] nothing major. He’s all pretty good, so it was really precautionary when he came off the ground. There is a little scan, but nothing dramatic. We might be conservative with him this week and not play him, but we’ll just see how that pans out over the course of the week,” Roos said.

But Christian Salem is set to return in the VFL this weekend, after being sidelined for the past nine weeks with two separate hamstring injuries.

“[He’ll play in the] VFL at this stage. He’s been out for a fair while and again he’ll use that as a training run and getting through 60 minutes of footy, but it’s just good to have him back,” Roos said.

“He was a very, very good player for us early in the year.”