NICK Dal Santo will be an automatic inclusion for St Kilda for its Friday night clash with Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium.

Dal Santo, 26, was a last-minute withdrawal from last week's loss to Collingwood with a back injury but coach Ross Lyon said he was guaranteed to come straight back in.

"He'll train tonight and all going well, he'll definitely play. We certainly took a conservative approach but the right approach," Lyon said on Wednesday afternoon.

"It's been the way we've gone about it for the majority of the year and we think it will pay dividends for Nick over the remaining six weeks."

Dal Santo has been an instrumental cog in the St Kilda engine room this season and his return will be vital in countering a Hawthorn midfield that was outstanding against the Brisbane Lions last week.

Lyon said the Hawks, who have won eight of their last nine games, were formidable opponents and that they were hard to beat when at full strength.

"I think everyone was scratching their heads about what went on (with Hawthorn's slow start to the season) and there were a combination of factors," he said.

"They're A-grade midfielders - (Shaun) Burgoyne, (Sam) Mitchell, (Luke) Hodge and (Xavier) Ellis - they are all premiership players and they are elite. Cyril (Rioli) is up and going [and] they've got their backs back.

"They have got all their personnel and have great capabilities but we see ourselves as a very good team, a very consistent team and we’re up for the challenge."

Star Hawks forward Lance Franklin is expected to resume after missing the win over the Lions with an ankle injury.

Lyon said suggestions from Michael Osborne that Saints defender Zac Dawson had already been taunting Franklin - his former teammate - with text messages were untrue.

"I think 'Pinocchio' Osborne is telling some porky pies there," he said. "Certainly no texts have come from our end but they are all the mind games people play.

"Zac will [play on Franklin] at times. You share Buddy a bit but I think Nick Riewoldt has proven while playing for us and not playing with us that we're not the NBA, we don't rely on one player and neither do Hawthorn.

"Whether you're winning or losing it is not about one. We've got 22 to take care of."

The Saints kicked 6.16 against the Magpies and Lyon admitted that their scoring power was being worked on.