St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has defended his decision to drop young midfielder Hugo Garcia from his Round 11 plans after a well-documented period for the second-year Saint.
Garcia was subbed out of the Saints' Round 7 defeat to Brisbane in the opening half, playing just 20 per cent game time while receiving some choice words from Lyon on the interchange.
The 20-year-old responded in style the week after to claim a Rising Star nomination, holding his spot in the senior side through to last week's shock loss to West Coast.
After suffering five losses in his last six games in charge, Lyon has decided to swing the axe at selection this week, making four confirmed outs and having the potential to add three more before the weekend.
Garcia is joined by Lance Collard and Angus McLennan in being omitted from St Kilda's side, with midfielder Jack Macrae also making way due to injury.
Speaking on Garcia's omission, Lyon said the competition is a "high-demand industry" and that the Saints needed to reward the form of those starring at VFL level.
"One week you're coaching, the next week you're sacked. It happens to all of us. AFL is a high-demand industry," Lyon said.
"He's a young player, second year, played lots of footy. Sometimes you've just got to take some pressure on and go back (to the VFL) and express themselves.
"We've lost three of our last four, and we had Hunter Clark and (Zak) Jones play very good football, and (Hugh) Boxshall, in the VFL.
"So we need to reward those performances, and our midfield is an area we haven't been on top of.
"All of our players need to improve. We work on things, just some general things, we've all got stuff to work on. I wouldn't be running it up the flagpole."
Lyon confirmed both Hunter Clark and Zak Jones will face Gold Coast this weekend, with youngster Hugh Boxshall in the mix alongside potential ins Angus Hastie, Max Heath, Liam Henry and Isaac Keeler.
The Suns' star-studded midifeld has led Lyon to assess his own engine room, backing the likes of Clark and Jones to help the cause on Sunday afternoon.
"Jones and Hunter Clark will come in, Boxshall may or may not," Lyon added.
"It's really important to reward performance. I think if you're winning and everyone's performing well, you stay (with the side you have). But at some point, you need to give people an opportunity. Otherwise, people roll their eyes.
"So we're really thrilled. Hunter Clark has had an abdominal issue since pre-Christmas. He's got back, he's three games in, he's been a good player for us, as has Zak Jones, and his best is very, very good.
"It'll just give us a little bit more experience around the ball."
St Kilda will host Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium on Sunday at 4:40pm (AEST) in the hope of avoiding a defeat that could see them fall to 16th on the ladder.
