ST KILDA forward Max King is no certainty to face Adelaide in round one after undergoing knee surgery on Thursday morning.

The 25-year-old has had recurrent pain since he injured his knee during an intra-club hitout on February 7.

While the original prognosis saw King avoid surgery and instead reduce his training load for one to two weeks, the pain was reoccurring for nearly a month, leading to the need for an exploratory arthroscope on his right knee.

"We explored a number of non-surgical options to eliminate Max’s pain, with varying but ultimately not long-lasting success," Saints footy boss David Misson said.

"The procedure went well, so now we’ll give Max some time to recuperate and establish a more definite return to play timeline from there.

"That being said, we don’t believe this will cause major delays to Max’s 2025 campaign and he’ll remain touch and go for round one."

The Saints also confirmed key duo Rowan Marshall and Jack Sinclair wouldn't feature in the side's AAMI Community Series match against Port Adelaide on Saturday, but remained on track for round one.