The Eagles boast Josh Kennedy, Jack Darling, the returning Quinten Lynch and ruck/forward duo Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox but Lyon said the critical thing was to restrict the supply to their forward targets.
"It doesn't matter, big defenders, short defenders, it's about the pressure up the field,” Lyon said on Thursday.
“If they're walking out of stoppages and walking out of our front half - which has been a bit of a problem early in the year but one we've got on top of in the last month - it doesn't matter who you've got down there, I could get Stephen Silvagni and he wouldn't stop them. It's about the pressure up the field."
The Saints take on the Eagles having won their previous 23 Saturday night games at Etihad Stadium. They haven’t lost in that time slot at the venue since round nine, 2003 but Lyon said home ground advantage counted for little against a team like the Eagles.
“Good teams win interstate. Today’s era is so professional and the best teams win wherever they play at any time,” he said.
“I don’t think we’ve got any advantage particularly since they’ve had some good wins there.”
Lyon said playing the in-form West Coast gives the Saints a chance to gauge where they are ranked in the AFL pecking order.
"What it is for us is an opportunity to see where we've really improved. We've won five out of our last seven and we felt held our end up fairly well against Collingwood and Geelong and didn't get it done. This is an opportunity to see where we sit against a team in the top four,” he said.
The Saints will wear armbands for their one and only premiership coach Allan Jeans who died earlier in the week.
Lyon said he appreciated all that Jeans had done for both the club and himself since he was appointed coach at the end of 2006. The pair actually made a point of catching up on the days before each of St Kilda’s last three grand finals.
"From when I arrived Allan made contact with me and we formed a really healthy relationship,” he said.
“He really took me under his wing, there were some really rough days early and he went out of his way at a Hall of Fame function to give me really strong public support. He mentored me for different situations.
"I'm really grateful and it's sad but he commands enormous respect and he was a towering figure in the game."
Luke Holmesby covers St Kilda news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_LHolmesby.
