The Sydney Swans will be searching for their sixth consecutive victory when they face St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, August 7 in Round 21.

John Longmire has just made the one change to his side that came away with a 9-point victory over Essendon last week, with Dylan Stephens returning to the side in place of James Bell (omitted).

St Kilda have made four changes to their side that suffered a 9-point loss to Collingwood last week, with Jack Sinclair, Nick Coffield, Daniel McKenzie and Darragh Joyce named for the clash.

Injured players Jack Billings (hamstring), Dougal Howard (hamstring) and Hunter Clark (concussion) as well as Ben Long and Paul Hunter (omitted) make way for the four inclusions.

Opening bounce at 7:40pm AEST.

PRIDE GAME

The clash is the sixth annual Pride Game and was originally scheduled to be played on Sunday afternoon but was rescheduled earlier this week.

The game was established between the two sides in 2016 to celebrate diversity and ensure everyone feels safe, respected and included at the football.

The match is also an opportunity to listen, learn and highlight stories from the LGBTIQ community.

The Sydney Swans will wear their inaugural Pride guernsey in Saturday night's match. It is the first time the club will wear a specially designed Pride guernsey for the game. The Sydney Swans will also wear rainbow socks with the Pride guernsey. The 2021 Pride guernsey and range is available at the Swanshop here.

The sixth Pride Game will be played without a crowd and will be live on Fox Footy, Kayo Sports and 7Mate in NSW.

HSBC is the official Pride Game partner of the Sydney Swans.

STATS

The Sydney Swans enter this clash with plenty of confidence, having won five consecutive games. They currently sit 5^th on the ladder with 13 wins this season. St Kilda enter this clash with three losses, sitting 13^th on the ladder.

Sydney hold the head to head advantage over St Kilda, with victories in 11 of the previous 12 encounters. When the two sides met earlier this season, Sydney came away 9-point victors at the SCG in Round 12.

KEY QUOTES

John Longmire

"We have been able to find a way, no matter what has been thrown at us and that's been really pleasing,"

"We have had some really good quarters of footy in that and have ad some areas we need to improve still, but overall, it has been a really good block and we need to try keep going as much as we can. 

"We play St Kilda this week and we need to keep that up."

"We are making sure we concentrate on what we do and play to our strengths, but also don't allow St Kilda to play to their strengths," Longmire added.

"They are a team that can really kick goals in a hurry, they have some great forward targets and a midfield who can really run forward hard and we need to be mindful of that."

"Last week our reserves went well and we are really confident in a number of those boys that are playing in the next level down, whether they have been playing there for a few weeks or are coming back from injury, we are really confident they can come back in and play a role for us"

"We need to be in good form right across the board. We have talked about the squad mentality and that's what we need."

SOCIAL MEDIA

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St Kilda has kept its finals hopes alive with an upset 29-point win over in-form Sydney on Saturday night.

The Saints' pressure was relentless at Marvel Stadium as they bucked a three-game losing run to snap the Swans' winning streak at five.

The 14.9 (93) to 10.4 (64) result puts St Kilda two points outside the top eight with matches still to be played on Sunday.

Small forward Jack Higgins slotted an equal career-high four goals for St Kilda, while teammate Dean Kent was next best with three in a match in which the Saints increased their lead at each change.

Saints captain Jack Steele was outstanding, topping the possession count with 34 to go with one goal, seven tackles and six clearances.

Swans superstar Lance Franklin was blunted and kept to two touches in the first half before finishing the game with just one goal.

With a poor percentage, St Kilda must keep winning to make the finals with games against higher-placed Geelong and Fremantle in the final two rounds.

Max King, who was strong in the opening stages and nailed an impressive snap in the third term in a two-goal effort, didn't finish the match due to a groin problem.

Sydney's hopes of a top-four finish took a massive hit but they remain a chance of securing a double chance in September with matches against North Melbourne and Gold Coast, two sides outside the eight, to come.

Trailing 50-32 at half-time, the Swans slotted the first two goals of the third term to reduce the margin to just six points.

But St Kilda rebounded with a four-goal run to open up a 76-52 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

They squandered a number of opportunities early in the final term as the Swans got within 15 points before running away with the last three goals.

The Swans were forced into a late change when Callum Mills (achilles soreness) pulled out moments before the first bounce.

Dawson more than a defender
Jordan Dawson started the season as an attacking defender regularly setting up the Swans’ transitions with his penetrating left-foot kicking, but since the bye has often brought his skills further up the field and played off the wing. The 24-year-old lined up in the forward half and even offered a marking target inside 50 at times against the Saints, as he kicked two goals to go with 20 disposals that unusually included nine contested possessions, and showed that he has the versatility to have an impact at both ends. It wasn’t Dawson’s best game this season but he showed he can stand up when the Swans are struggling and his team needs him most.

ST KILDA    5.0     8.2    12.4    14.9 (93)  
SYDNEY      4.1     5.2      8.4    10.4 (64)

GOALS
St Kilda: Higgins 4, Kent 3, King 2, Membrey 2, Sharman 2, Steele,
Sydney: Gulden 2, Dawson 2, Papley 2, Hayward 2, Franklin, Florent,

BEST
St Kilda: Steele, Higgins, Marshall, Dunstan, Hill, Jones
Sydney: Parker, Dawson, Lloyd, Florent, Papley

INJURIES
St Kilda: King (quad)
Sydney: Nil

LATE CHANGES
St Kilda: Nil
Sydney: Mills (Achilles soreness) replaced in selected side by Clarke

SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Bytel (replaced King)
Sydney: Clarke (unused)