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ST KILDA is "shattered" after Saturday night's heart-breaking two-point loss to Port Adelaide, but Saints coach Alan Richardson says it's the type of game that will build resolve in his young group.

The Saints fought back brilliantly to hit the front in the last quarter, before late goals to Aaron Young and Robbie Gray got the Power over the line.

WATCH: The last two minutes

It's the third straight loss for the Saints (9-9), who face a tough ask to force their way into the finals.

"While we are shattered by the result given we were in a winning position late in the game, the reality is we played pretty good footy tonight," Richardson said.

"Three weeks ago against Richmond was really positive footy.

"Tonight we played good footy, Port were just too good, late.

"To some extent, we can live with that.

"We're not going to cop it, we're going to learn from it and we're going to improve, but it's certainly a better performance than the last two weeks haven been."

WATCH: Alan Richardson's full post-match media conference

The Saints looked like they had turned the corner when they smashed the Tigers by 67 points in round 16, before losses to Essendon and Sydney brought them back to Earth.

"We think our best footy is strong enough to be competitive with anyone and we think we've proven that," Richardson said.

"What we've also proven is that there's a gap between our best footy and our poorer performances.

"That's our focus, to nail what works for us."

Five talking points: Port Adelaide v St Kilda

Without Nick Riewoldt and veteran defender Leigh Montagna, it was the Saints' emerging stars that dragged them back into the contest in the last quarter against the Power, before eventually falling short.

Richardson said it was these types of results that would pay off in the long run.

"It takes some kicks in the guts and potentially builds resilience in young players," he said.

"They continue to learn.

"They learn to cope from the disappointment, they learn to train what they need to train and importantly, they get the opportunity to respond."

Midfielders Seb Ross (31 disposals) and Luke Dunstan (27 disposals) worked hard, Jake Carlile was outstanding in defence, while key forward Josh Bruce presented a strong target without getting the results on the scoreboard.

The Saints are set to regain Riewoldt for next Sunday's clash with West Coast at Etihad Stadium after the 34-year-old was rested for the trip to South Australia.

"We certainly hope so and that was the plan," Richardson said.

"The plan was to give him a week off to rest the body.

"He would've trained today.

"The plan is he'll train and very likely give himself every opportunity to get back in the team and if he's right, we'll play him."