North Melbourne star Daniel Wells says the Kangaroos are much better off having to rebound from their series of painfully-narrow AFL defeats than if they were trying to recover from bigger losses.

The Kangaroos have forfeited late leads to lose by two points to West Coast and one point to Adelaide in the past two rounds.

Having also lost by less than a goal to competition powerhouses Geelong and Hawthorn earlier this season, they sit on a 3-6 record, with questions over their mental frailty and a desperate need to get over the line against St Kilda on Sunday.

But Wells said while the last-gasp defeats hurt, the Kangaroos can at least take heart that they remain in finals contention and are playing well enough to get there, if they can make some small improvements.

He said only time would tell whether last round’s horror loss to the Crows, when they gave up a five-goal last-term lead, would prove a turning point in their season, but he was certain it wouldn’t fracture the team.

“No doubt the team have stuck fat through this time,” Wells said.

“We’ve been in (tough) places like this before, but the difference is we haven’t been playing the kind of footy we have (this season).

“We’ve been in places like this and our season’s been pretty much almost over.

“So we’ve still got a shot at it and we’re looking forward to playing against a pretty good team in St Kilda, who have got a lot of young kids but they’ve always been a tough team to beat.”

Wells will play his 200th game on Sunday, as will St Kilda’s Leigh Montagna, while North’s former skipper Brent Harvey plays his 350th.

The Kangaroos have lost tough midfielder Jack Ziebell to suspension and dropped athletic forward-ruckman Majak Daw.

The Saints, who were upset by the Western Bulldogs last round, have made three changes, losing the inspirational Lenny Hayes to a calf injury and dropping tagger Clinton Jones and forward Beau Maister.

Midfielder David Armitage returns from injury among the inclusions.