North Melbourne champion Wayne Carey has put a line through St Kilda's season after three rounds.

Carey believes the Saints' finals hopes are all but gone after their disappointing loss to Essendon on the weekend.

The loss leaves the Saints with one win and two losses and the matter in which they lost to the struggling Bombers have left many concerned for their campaign.

The Saints looked miles off the pace of the young and winless Bombers, who were missing some key figures.

Not helping St Kilda is the fact they have the hardest fixture, as ranked by Champion Data, with many believing the formula to success for the Saints was to bank wins in their opening three games.

They are now in danger of falling behind the race for the top eight in the coming weeks, as they face West Coast, Richmond and Port Adelaide.

Carey believes the Saints are doomed for a one and five start given the tough trek and early stumbles.

"They (St Kilda) are cooked. Saints are done.," Carey told Triple M Footy'sย Mid Week Rub.

"And I tell you why they are done, have a look at the next three weeks.

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"They've got the best three teams in the competition over the next three weeks. There's no way they are winning any of those.

"I'm prepared to say, they will lose the next three gamesย and that will make them 1 (win) & 5 (losses)."

The Saints are also struggling with injuries but will be welcome the addition of ruckman Rowan Marshall back to the senior side this week, while Paddy Ryder is back in Melbourne after taking some personal leave but is likely to miss this week.

Veteran duo Jarryn Geary and Dan Hannebery are facing further setbacks in their recovery, and will miss the next month of action.