North Melbourne midfielder Liam Anthony says the Kangaroos are confident they can pull off a major upset against St Kilda for the second time in as many AFL meetings.

The 22-year-old acknowledged the hardened Saints were the benchmark in many aspects of the game, while the Kangaroos are heavily reliant on players who are talented but in their career infancy.

But he said first-year coach Brad Scott had instilled the belief that they could take on and beat experienced rivals.

"Brad's given a lot of confidence to us young boys, it's a young side obviously, but we've got to play with confidence and a bit of flair," Anthony said on Friday.

"So hopefully we can take that out into quarter one tomorrow night and go from there."

Anthony, who picked up 26 touches and nine tackles against Port Adelaide in the opening round, said the Roos had respect for the Saints' star-studded midfield, but would not be intimidated.

"We've had a look at their on-ball unit, it's a great side, but I think Brad's instilled the confidence in our midfield," he said.

"We're young but I think we'll have a good crack at them tomorrow night."

He said winning the contested ball would be the key to victory.

It was an area of their game they were severely disappointed with in the first half against the Power, at one stage falling 50 points down before finding their spark to go down by 14.

"Obviously it's going to be a tough challenge in that respect and probably all areas of the ground it's going to be a tough challenge," Anthony said.

"But I think we've got enough confidence in our structures to beat them in all areas."

The Kangaroos were surprise five-point winners over the Saints in their most recent meeting, in round 21 last season.

It was one of just seven North victories for the year and one of only three losses for St Kilda.

Anthony acknowledges both sides have changed since that encounter, but said the Kangaroos could still draw self-belief from it.

Both clubs have made two team changes.

The Saints lost key forward Justin Koschitzke to suspension and dropped ruckman Steven King, with Michael Gardiner and Adam Pattison coming in.

The Kangaroos included Corey Jones and Nathan Grima at the expense of Leigh Harding and Scott McMahon.

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