After another successful away win in Brisbane on the weekend, Ross Lyon is preparing himself for a big Round 16 Saturday afternoon game against Collingwood at the MCG.

Speaking to media about the game Ross said; “It will be a great stage - Saturday afternoon ‘traditional’ football, which is what we were all brought up on.”

With Nick Riewoldt making his return in Round 15 after three months on the sidelines, Lyon said that it was great for Nick and for the St Kilda Football Club to have him back. But whether he expects Nick to return to top form immediately was not something Lyon was keen to put a time frame on.

“I think his improvement will be incremental. It is pretty hard to put a figure on it, but he will continually be better conditioned for AFL football and then you would think his form and confidence will come from those things.”

With the Saints winning the past seven matches, Ross was quick not to make any assumptions about what may lie ahead in the final series. Ensuring the team does not become complacent, Lyon insisted that the next seven games will be just as important for the team.

“The facts are there is a third of the season to go, and nothing is finished, no positions are finalised, so we’ll try to bank as many wins as we can to secure our best winning position on the grid. We’re certainly not relaxing and we have a really tough opponent ahead of us this week.”

After the high level of intensity seen back in Round 3 when the Saints met the Pies at Etihad Stadium, media expectations for this weekend are no different. Although Lyon says he will not focus on these elements in the lead up to the match.

“Our whole philosophy is to get our team right, and then worry about the opposition.”

“We don’t have the luxury to continually look back. We acknowledge that events happened but certainly they will play no part in our preparation, or once the ball is bounced on Saturday. Our aim is to improve our football, with the ultimate aim to bank the four points at the end of the day.”

With two late changes in the Round 15 side against Brisbane, Brendon Goddard was withdrawn from illness and Justin Koschitzke did not reach full fitness from an ankle injury, Lyon is hoping both will be available to face Collingwood this weekend.

“Brendon had quite a fever and it actually happened after our final team meeting which is why we had to change the team. Fortunately we got through the game and now Brendon should be available this weekend.”

“Koschitzke is also in the mix. He trained the last session (last week) but he didn’t pull up as well as would have expected, so we changed the team. Based on that he will train tonight and Thursday night and I assume we will name him, depending on selection.”

Defender Raphael Clarke is still undergoing rehab from a hamstring strain and will be assessed later this week.

Ross hopes the strong St Kilda membership base turn out in full voice on Saturday afternoon, but was quick to note the game is just another round in the 22 week season.

“We see ourselves as a big Club, we’ve got over 40,000 members, and the fans love the way we play and love how we compete.”

“The prize at the end of the game is no different; we’re not going to get any more points this week than we did last week or the week before. We want to play the game within the spirit of the game and within the rules of the game.”