ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon says he will blood a number of younger players to give his side a “transfusion” after the Saints' 35-point loss to Sydney on Saturday night.

Lyon suggested the group was lacking enthusiasm and energy. He said that one of the ways to overcome that problem was by bringing in younger players that were currently impressing in the reserves.

“The time has come for the [Ben] McEvoy's and the [Brad] Howards. We've got some good kids in our seconds and they had another good win today. I can't accept continually losing and going in with the same cattle.

“We judge everyone on the ability they have and what they delivered tonight. So if you don't meet your ability you're going to be under some pressure and we're going to make some changes.

“We need to blood more [kids]. We need to get a blood transfusion into the group to get some enthusiasm and energy.”

While admitting he would begin playing a few more inexperienced players, Lyon said he had not given up on the finals, with his side still ninth on 20 points.

Lyon explained that one of the current problems with the Saints was that the team was “predictable” and lacked pace.

“You don’t give up on finals,” he said. “We've got 10 weeks to develop the players and the type of football we want. We want to compete consistently with one-on-one football.

“We've just got to worry about building our confidence back up and putting together a team structure, work ethic and a consistency that allows us to win AFL footy.

“At the moment we're 5-7 [win-loss] and there are good reasons for that. Against teams around us we've done quite well but against teams clearly heading for the top four, we've been caught short.”

The former Swans assistant coach said his side didn't play to its full potential over the four quarters.

Lyon added the performances of Jason Gram, Sam Fisher and Michael Gardiner were positives on a night that saw his side behind at every turn.

“I thought it was a good, positive start and we looked dangerous. But gradually their [the Swans] work-rate and evenness across the board resulted in them wrestling full momentum of the game.

“We reconstructed at half-time, putting Jason Gram and Sam Fisher through the midfield to complement the work of [Lenny] Hayes and the ruckman and we got some real run and spread and we kicked 5-2 and looked really dangerous and I think we got to within 12 or 11 points.

“But in the end, their evenness and weight of numbers saw them get on top again.”