ST KILDA'S controversial ruck recruit Michael Gardiner is unlikely to play before the midyear break at the earliest, with the same injury to his right foot that required surgery on his left foot.

St Kilda last night confirmed Gardiner would miss at least the next four weeks after his sore right foot forced him to be a late withdrawal from the past two games for the Casey Scorpions' VFL affiliate side. "On the last two occasions, he has pulled up sore from after the last training session of the week. Now we will give it extra time to settle and then increase the tempo of training," St Kilda football manager Ken Sheldon said.

"We've got faith in the system and believe he's a chance to get back this year. The frustrating thing is it's his good foot, not the one he's had trouble with. It is similar to his original injury in his other foot, so he knows how to handle it and we think this is the best way to tackle it.

"His other lingering injuries are A-OK … we hope we are not going down that path of surgery. It's four weeks and at the end of that, we will make a decision, but it is a long year and it is the end of the year you want them firing."

Yet to play for his adopted club, the former Eagles ruckman has had feet problems for the past two years and had surgery on his left foot following the 2005 grand final. Gardiner trained strongly last Wednesday, only to pull up sore on Thursday.

Just last week, St Kilda coach Ross Lyon indicated that an athlete of Gardiner's ilk may have been just one solid outing at VFL level away from a senior call-up because of the spate of injuries to the Saints' key-position personnel.

"If he went out there and played well, he'd almost be in contention," Lyon said. "Ideally, you'd like to get two or three games into him, but he doesn't take long to come to hand."

Gardiner, who has maintained that he would walk away from the game if injuries didn't allow him to play at his optimum, now will not be available for VFL selection until next month.

He carried a groin complaint when he arrived at the club and once that repaired, he injured his other groin. Then, when finally approaching fitness, the foot injury flared.

With WEST AUSTRALIAN