St Kilda's midfield will be given an enormous boost for Friday night's AFL pre-season semi-final against Essendon, with star trio Lenny Hayes, Luke Ball and Robert Harvey set to return.

For Hayes and Ball it will be their first matches for the year, with Hayes having overcome a calf injury and the latter recovering from groin soreness, while veteran Harvey was rested last weekend.

Star forward Nick Riewoldt will also play his first match of the year after recovering from a knee complaint, meaning it will be the first hit-out for the Saints' three co-captains of last year.

But St Kilda will lose key forwards Fraser Gehrig and Justin Koschitzke and key defender Max Hudghton, all injured in last weekend's win over Geelong.

Defender Leigh Fisher said now that the club had made it this far in the competition, the motivation to get past the Bombers and reach a pre-season grand final was high.

"Every game gets more important I suppose, so it would be nice to get through this week and then have a go the following week," Fisher said.

"There's a tough game to win tomorrow night, so we'll wait and see how we go.

"Essendon, obviously they're up and running, they've got plenty of new young players in and they've been doing quite well, so we'll have to watch out for them."

Bombers midfielder Mark McVeigh said making it through to the grand final would be a great experience for Essendon, particularly for new coach Matthew Knights and the host of young players involved.

"It would be just great for the whole club to get some confidence going into round one, we've been down for a number of years and I think the players will get something from it, the young players will, and I'm sure Knighter will want to coach in the big stuff," McVeigh said.

"Essendon, the big club that we are, we play in some big games, Anzac Day, and we've been involved in finals over the years, it will be great experience."

He said the longer Essendon stayed in the competition, the more they developed confidence in Knights' gameplan.

McVeigh said the bright showings by youngsters was sending a wave of enthusiasm through the club, with senior players surprised at how quickly new draftees Tayte Pears, David Myers and Cale Hooker were adapting to AFL level.

The blossoming of players that had spent a year or two on the list was also important.

"They've been very impressive, guys like Ricky Dyson and Bachar Houli, who have had a good pre-season and been standouts," McVeigh said.

© 2009 AAP
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