ST KILDA midfielder Lenny Hayes says his side still believes it can match the elite teams in the AFL.

The Saints are sitting at 5-6, coming off a defeat to the white hot Western Bulldogs.

“Our best footy can (match the top sides). When we’ve played Geelong and teams like that we’ve been in the game for periods at a time but just haven’t been able to do it for four quarters,” Hayes said.

“The belief is there that we can match it with these teams if we play four quarters and that has been our challenge.”

Hayes said his team simply had to learn to play four quarters of consistent football.

“We have been very inconsistent, if you look at the first quarter of last week’s game we were on top but we dropped away in the second and third quarters,” he said.

Hayes has been St Kilda’s best in a midfield that has been criticised for lacking pace. But he says the public perception of a fast team can be affected by other factors.

“It has probably been a criticism of St Kilda for a period of time but I think if we move the ball well and are up and going you tend to look quick,” he said.

“It is funny sometimes in the media how a side can look quick one week and not quick the next.

“We might like to have a bit more pace around the fringes and might be able to get some guys from the twos to come up. I think we’ve added pace from last year – with [Sean] Dempster and [Adam] Schneider. It is the way we move the ball that makes us look slow.”

Another area that has come in for scrutiny has been the St Kilda forward line. Justin Koschitzke, Nick Riewoldt, Stephen Milne and Fraser Gehrig have all had indifferent years in front of the big sticks but Hayes said it was easy to point the finger.

“It is a collective effort. You can’t pinpoint one or two guys for the reason we are not playing as well as we’d like. As a collective team if everyone’s doing their bit we play well and have a team effort,” he said.

Hayes said he had full faith that Riewoldt could solve his much-publicised yips in front of goal.

“He is not kicking it as well as he’d like but knowing Rooey, he is an extremely hard worker and has been putting a lot of time into it. We are right behind him 100 per cent and I know he will turn it around.”