JUSTIN Koschitzke will move a step closer to his 200th game milestone this Sunday when he lines up against Richmond at the MCG.



The veteran St Kilda resumed last week against Melbourne after a stint in the VFL.



Coach Scott Watters confirmed on Thursday morning that Koschitzke would retain his spot and that Lenny Hayes was a chance to return from a calf injury.



"[Koschitzke] did a pretty good job last week on the back of some good form at Sandringham. I thought he played his role really well," Watters said.



"He'll play again this week and it gets him to 199 and a game closer to reaching a pretty significant milestone.



"Only four per cent of players play 200 games so it looks like we're going to be able to get him there."



The Saints were hopeful Hayes would get through Thursday's training session and prove his availability.



However, he may return through the VFL after missing six games since round five with the recurrent injury.



Adam Schneider is also moving closer to a VFL return after missing nearly all of the season with a troublesome hamstring.



"I'd like him to come back. We've missed his quality now over last year and this," Watters said.



"He's had some really tough runs with soft tissue injuries; again, probably this week he'll play, certainly the week after, but we've been saying that for six or seven weeks and there have just been some stumbles along the way.



"If we can get him back out there and he can force his way back in for the last six or seven weeks, that's a real bonus for us."



Meanwhile, Stephen Milne has continued to train with the main group after being stood down from playing last week following his rapecharges.



"Stephen's coping well. Outside of that, out of respect to all parties, I think we'll leave that one alone now," Watters said.



"There was plenty said about it last week."



Sam Fisher has been ruled out for the rest of the season with the Saints opting to have his "degenerative toe" operated on now to get him ready for the 2014 pre-season.



Watters said the toe had been a three-to-four year issue with Fisher and it had come to the point where surgery was the best option.



"He'll be looking forward to day one of pre-season and it will probably be the first time in a while he can run without any distress," Watters said.



Beau Maister is another who has been ruled out for an extended period with knee and hamstring issues to keep him from playing for five to seven weeks.



"He had a broken thumb, showed some glimpses, had a broken thumb, came almost straight back into the side, then does his knee off a great pre-season," Watters said.



"A lot our senior players have actually missed large chunks of footy this year.



"That's given us the opportunity to expose a lot of our younger players but if we can get them all back on the park at some point, we'd have a pretty reasonable side out there."



The Saints will face Jack Riewoldt on Sunday, who has been what Watters termed "a thorn in our side" with 15 goals in the past two contests between the Tigers and Saints.



"We need to have a look at what sort of options we've got to apply pressure; ultimately it always comes back down to the midfield pressure you apply as well and the type of supply that he's getting," he said.



"He's certainly been a player who's caused us a lot oftrouble probably over the last three or four years in reality so we've had another close look at him but the Cotchin, Deledio, Martin … they've got a great side."



Jennifer Phelan is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenPhelan.

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