ST KILDA veteran Robert Harvey is expected to play his 350th match on Sunday against West Coast at Subiaco Oval in what Saints coach Ross Lyon has called a "transition" period for the club.

Harvey, who has missed two games this season after injuring his hamstring in round nine, will become only the 10th VFL/AFL player to notch 350 games when he returns.

The dual Brownlow medallist is one of five players in their 30s on St Kilda's list, including forward Fraser Gehrig, who will miss this weekend's game following surgery on a broken hand.

Lyon, desperate to keep his side's final eight hopes alive, ruled out keeping Harvey back an extra week to play his milestone game in Melbourne, saying "when gun players are available, you play them".

"There wasn't much emotion in my decision," Lyon said.

But, with his star midfielder in his 20th season and Gehrig, Andrew Thompson, Matthew Clarke and Max Hudghton all in their 30s, the coach suggested the playing list would soon look a lot younger.

"The facts are Fraser's not going to be around much longer, Robert Harvey's not going to be … so in some senses there's a little bit of transition occurring," he said.

"At some point Fraser won't be playing for St Kilda, whether it's next year or the year after.

"We've got two gun forwards, Koschitzke and Riewoldt … you build premiership teams around those guys. They're going to be around for the next seven years, so it's an insight this week into what it's going to be like without Fraser."

Lyon said Harvey, who trained strongly yesterday after a solid session on Monday, had progressed well and was probably the best judge of his own condition. "We have protocols he's got to tick off and at the minute he's jumping right over the top of them. It (taking him to Perth) is not ideal, it's not perfect, but we'll be over there a few days before (the game). "If there was any risk, we wouldn't take him."

Xavier Clarke (injured calf) appeared to be limping slightly but completed yesterday's training session and, according to Lyon, should be available for selection.

Matt Maguire (foot) will play for the Casey Scorpions this week but Aaron Hamill (knee) and Michael Gardiner (foot) are both another week away from returning through the VFL.