Ross Lyon says his team is disappointed with the result against the Gold Coast Suns, but has been able to see the clear improvements a week on from their poor loss in Perth.
The Saints showed plenty of fight but were unable to stop the highly-talented Suns, falling to a 19-point defeat at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
The Suns got out to a quick start before the Saints found their rhythm and fought back into the contest, particular after quarter time.
“I thought overall we worked pretty hard against a very good team," said Lyon.
"The areas we improved… We kicked 3.3 out of our back half against a really strong front half pressure team.
"We used our numbers, moved the ball pretty well and created some pretty good opportunities.”
Lyon lamented the Saints' poor response to the Eagles' front-half pressure in Round 10, forcing turnovers and poor ball use that inevitably saw the side taken down by 28 points.
Despite the improvements in that area shown on Sunday, Lyon understands there is more work to be done to regain the earlier season form that saw St Kilda sit at 3-1 after four games.
"There was a bit to like but we are disappointed."
"Centre square bounces was a struggle all day for us… which gave them ground position, that does make it hard.
"Some completion when we’re out, giving the ball away by foot and hand, was more pronounced than them and very costly.
A strong third quarter around the ground saw the Saints take control of the contest, but inefficiency in front of goal meant they were unable to make it count on the scoreboard.
“It was a really good quarter for us bar completion."
"They [Gold Coast] lifted in there [in Q4] and their speed and power got on top of us.”
Lyon was asked about the substitution of Darcy Wilson in the third term, with the coach speaking candidly about Wilson's own perception of his form so far this season.
"We know he’s been under a bit of form challenge.”
"He offered that maybe he should go back to the VFL… We were like ‘No we’ll back you in.’
"For the balance of the team we thought we could shuffle it up.
Lyon was then shown speaking to Wilson at the 3QT break, and explained the conversation surrounding that.
"I just had my arm around him explaining how important he is to us."
"Sometimes you don’t get to the sub but that opportunity I just took it."
St Kilda will now look to regain their winning ways as they travel to Alice Springs to take on the red-hot Melbourne Demons.
