Not even an injury to star defender Jeremy McGovern could dampen Adam Simpson’s mood following West Coast’s gutsy 15-point win over St Kilda on Thursday night.

The Eagles – who were without noted players Luke Shuey, Elliot Yeo, Dom Sheed and Jack Redden – lost McGovern to a hamstring strain in the second term but pressed on without the four-time all-Australian to record a gutsy win that keeps them in the hunt for a top four finish.

An elated Simpson said the victory, which secured the club it’s sixth-straight finals appearance under his watch, was among the best he had witnessed during his time in the west.

“It was one of our best wins for the club in my time,” Simpson said.

“It was a really brave effort. It would have been, hopefully, a good game to watch.

“I think it was our youngest side for I don’t know how many years. We were missing some players and the Saints threw everything at us as well.

“The guys just played their role and played with real spirit. We said that coming up here the second time that as long as we play with energy and spirit we’ll be proud of them.

“To get that win tonight, it was a good feeling in the rooms.”

The senior coach was not reluctant to heap some praise on his prime drivers, Tim Kelly and Nic Naitanui.

And he had every reason to.

Kelly was a force to be reckoned with at the Gabba, amassing 30 disposals, nine clearances, six handballs, four tackles and goal; while Naitanui exerted his influence on the contest when the game was on the line, finishing the contest with 33 disposals and nine clearances.

He was also rapt with Andrew Gaff, who bounced back from an uncharacteristically quiet performance against the Western Bulldogs to sit atop the game’s disposals stat column with 33 disposals.

“I thought Nic and TK in those last five minutes, when we were behind, those two, and Gaffy, really just took the game away from the Saints from the middle,” Simpson said.

“(Kelly) was worth every cent tonight. Hopefully we’ve got him for the next seven or eight years.

“He knew and Nic knew and Gaffy knew that they had to step up and lead and they did exactly that.

“Look, it wasn’t smooth sailing by any stretch, but sometimes I don’t overplay our performance but tonight I thought they were really brave.

“Our leaders led from the front and our younger guys followed.”

Having secured their spot in the 2020 finals series, West Coast now has it eyes on a coveted top four spot.

They will need a few results to fall their way, namely Geelong toppling reigning premiers Richmond in tomorrow’s night’s blockbuster encounter.

But Simpson said his side would be ready to pounce on the opportunity should the cards fall their way.

“We’ve qualified for finals,” a relieved Simpson said.

“We get a seven-day break, so we can have tomorrow off. We haven’t trained yet since we’ve been up here, so we might get a training session in this week and re-load for the Kangas.

“But tonight we will just enjoy each other’s company.”