The Saints take on Essendon on Saturday night with the Bombers currently the talk of the AFL world, both for the ongoing investigations into their supplements program and their blistering 3-0 start to the season.
The dominant theme in the build-up to Saturday night's clash at Etihad Stadium has been new Bomber Brendon Goddard and his first clash against the club he played 205 games for.
Not interested in the sub-plots, Watters said he hoped it would be on-field performance under the microscope for St Kilda after round four.
"We're coming up against an undefeated side, and a lot has been written about [them] in recent weeks with how they're going as a club so it's a great challenge for us," Watters said on Friday.
"I think you want to be in the spotlight, but you want to be in the spotlight for the right reasons.
"We think we're in good shape to really put up a strong contest. That's solely our focus and if that delivers a result then the spotlight comes on in a terrific way.
"You've got to embrace expectation, but performance is always the key to that."
Watters said the Saints had missed opportunities in the opening two rounds in losses to Gold Coast and Richmond but he had seen constant improvement from the group.
He said the key to halting Essendon's momentum after a stunning come-from-behind win against Fremantle last Friday night, was to "play your game".
"You can be distracted by the focus that's on other opposition if you like, but for us it's about improving what we do," Watters said.
"We've got a number of player within our side currently who are just learning some new roles; Rhys Stanley is developing as a backman, we've seen Nathan Wright come in last week, even Sam Fisher coming off some limited preparation is getting better week by week.
"For us it's about doing what we do, doing it well, and certainly paying respect to how well they're playing as well."
Watters said he wasn't bothered about the prospect of on-field confrontations with Goddard, who played in the Saints' 2009 and 2010 Grand Final teams, and he just wanted his players to "focus on their role and on their job".
"We're certainly not distracted by any one individual," he said.
"There's going to be some great match-ups and there's some great players out there.
"The emergence of (Jake) Carlisle, he'll obviously go to Nick (Riewoldt) and that's a challenge that I know Nick's really looking forward to.
"It's one that our supporters should come along to see.
"They're the sorts of things that I think will make this game an exciting contest for both sides."
"We think we're in good shape to really put up a strong contest. That's solely our focus and if that delivers a result then the spotlight comes on in a terrific way.
"You've got to embrace expectation, but performance is always the key to that."
Watters said the Saints had missed opportunities in the opening two rounds in losses to Gold Coast and Richmond but he had seen constant improvement from the group.
He said the key to halting Essendon's momentum after a stunning come-from-behind win against Fremantle last Friday night, was to "play your game".
"You can be distracted by the focus that's on other opposition if you like, but for us it's about improving what we do," Watters said.
"We've got a number of player within our side currently who are just learning some new roles; Rhys Stanley is developing as a backman, we've seen Nathan Wright come in last week, even Sam Fisher coming off some limited preparation is getting better week by week.
"For us it's about doing what we do, doing it well, and certainly paying respect to how well they're playing as well."
Watters said he wasn't bothered about the prospect of on-field confrontations with Goddard, who played in the Saints' 2009 and 2010 Grand Final teams, and he just wanted his players to "focus on their role and on their job".
"We're certainly not distracted by any one individual," he said.
"There's going to be some great match-ups and there's some great players out there.
"The emergence of (Jake) Carlisle, he'll obviously go to Nick (Riewoldt) and that's a challenge that I know Nick's really looking forward to.
"It's one that our supporters should come along to see.
"They're the sorts of things that I think will make this game an exciting contest for both sides."
Meanwhile, St Kilda has unveiled the jumper it will wear in its historic Anzac Day clash against the Sydney Swans in New Zealand.
"Given the historic occasion, we were keen to appropriately recognise New Zealand on our iconic Saints playing uniform," St Kilda CEO Michael Nettlefold said.
Renowned New Zealand artist Derek Lardelli designed the guernsey to highlight the link between Australia and New Zealand.
Nathan Schmook is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nathan
