WESTERN Bulldogs defender Lindsay Gilbee has defended his side's game style, after St Kilda pinched a three-point win from under its nose on Friday night.

Facing a heavy St Kilda flood, the Bulldogs were continually forced to chip the ball around from flank to flank, or kick long to contests at which they were outnumbered.

Gilbee said he was aware of supporter discontent after one of the uglier games of football in recent memory, but maintaining possession was a part of his side's game plan.

"You hear a lot of booing form the crowd and stuff like that, but I guess they'd get more upset if we just kicked the ball back and they marked it," Gilbee told BigPond Sports Weekend on Saturday.

"You want to control possession most of the time and you don't want to give the footy back. That was a part of our game plan.

"Obviously it tires them out if we keep going around and they have to keep moving their zone.

"Perhaps we have to give it to the kickers. Guys who can kick it 50 to 55 to 60 metres are of more value now than ever."

The Bulldogs controlled the low-scoring clash for all but the last eight minutes, allowing St Kilda to kick three goals without reply and steal a narrow victory.

Gilbee said the Bulldogs had let themselves down with skill errors and poor decision-making and coach Rodney Eade's message after the game was that the Saints didn't win it; the Bulldogs lost it.

"That eight minutes was what counted the most in the end. It was not good enough by the boys," he said.

"Obviously it was a great effort and the intensity was there for three-and-a-half quarters, but when it mattered most we weren't in front.

"We thought we had the run to get over them, but our skill errors, our execution and our thought processes cost us the game.

"They won it, but we handed it to them."