The gap between St Kilda’s best and worst has been an area of concern this season, with impressive performances against Geelong and Hawthorn overshadowed by disappointing efforts in Adelaide and Perth.

St Kilda Coach Alan Richardson concedes the gap has been too wide this season, with consistency across games and across the back half of the season a focus in the run home.

“(Inconsistency) has been a concern for us,” Richardson told the media at a press conference on Thursday.

“We’ve had some really strong footy. We’ve won four out of last six and in that period we’ve played some really good footy, but the gap (between our best and worst) has been a bit too big. So that’s a focus of ours.”

St Kilda may have won their last 13 games against Sunday’s opponent Melbourne, in a sequence stretching back to 2006, but Richardson says the Saints haven’t spoken about the streak, preferring to focus on how to dismantle the Demons at Etihad Stadium.

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“It’s not something we talk about, we just talk about the opposition that we come up against, the team that they pick, the venue in which we play,” Richardson told reporters at a press conference on Thursday.

“There’s obviously our own issues; what worked for you last week; what do you need to improve on. You work on the training track and you bring it into the game.

“So it’s a combination of all those factors and the reality is our blokes should feel reasonably confident that if we play at our best we should give ourselves an opportunity to win the game.”

In-form Demons spearhead Jesse Hogan proved to be a handful when the two sides met back in Round 6, with the emerging superstar booting 7.1 in a dominant display.

Richardson says the Saints will need to put pressure on the ball further up the ground to ensure Hogan and Melbourne’s forwards aren’t provided with silver service.

“He’s a good player, there’s no doubt about that, he’s had good form against us,” Richardson said.

“If we don’t get pressure on the ball, anyone of their forwards is going to do some damage not just Hogan so that’s going to be our focus.”

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