For the second week in a row, the Saints only had themselves to blame as a year that was burning with so much promise looks to be fizzling out.

St Kilda kept Adelaide scoreless until midway through the second quarter on Saturday night but the Saints managed just one goal to the Crows' seven after half-time in Cairns.

Their 9.12 (66) to 8.12 (60) defeat follows a nine-point loss to Sydney last week which was punctuated with poor kicking at goal.

After making the finals for the first time since 2011 last year, the Saints' top-eight hopes are all but shot at 5-8 and with the second-worst percentage in the competition.

"We've been in some close games now and we can't get it done," Ratten said.

"It's something we did quite well last year, we won a few close games.

"We need to find a way and that's what the good teams to do. We're not finding a way to win.

"It's going to be an unbelievable result for us to make it (to finals) especially with our percentage and the quality of players we've got out.

"It might not be our turn but we've got to make sure the expectations moving forward are pushing to the highest level.

"Whether it wins us games or not we've got to improve on this effort tonight.

"The game doesn't stop at three-quarter-time and that's been an issue for us this year.

"We'll find out a lot about our list and personnel and hopefully that will put us in good stead for what's to come."

The Saints returned to Melbourne, following two weeks away during the city's lockdown, in the early hours of Sunday morning on a red-eye flight from north Queensland.

They have a bye next weekend before resetting for a Friday night clash with reigning premiers Richmond, who smashed the Saints by 86 points in round five.

Ratten flagged St Kilda could regain star ruckman Rowan Marshall from a foot injury, but young utility Hunter Clark might be unavailable after suffering a broken jaw in a collision with Crows veteran David Mackay on Saturday.

Ace forward Tim Membrey and dual best-and-fairest winner Seb Ross should be available after leaving the Saints' hub for family reasons.

Australian Associated Press