ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon admitted the Saints still have a lot to work on after their scrappy 24-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

The victory was St Kilda's third in four matches and lifted them to within two points of the top eight, and although far from happy, Lyon said the endeavour of his players couldn't be questioned.

"I'm certainly not walking away thrilled with that performance, bar our overall effort," Lyon said after the match.

"I think it just highlights where we're at.

"We're still trying to pursue being a lot better than what you saw tonight.

"You saw some glimpses, but it's quite frustrating, the gap between our best and our worst, even within games."

Unprompted by questions from journalists, Lyon opened his press conference with a frank assessment of how he saw the game.

"We started really well but our ability to execute and put it through the sticks was frustrating," he said.

"I thought from there the Bulldogs were really good and threw a few things at us.

"We got opened up in our back half … and (Shaun) Higgins and a couple [of others] got off the chain.

"Half-time we spoke about organising those things, and I thought we played with more intensity … but our skill level still let us down."

Lyon was happy his players were able to show some fight in a game where the loser would drop from finals contention and face intense media scrutiny.

"Both clubs came here tonight under the microscope, and I just said it was going to be about character," he said.

"If I forget the skill error and the lack of method at times, I thought we showed good character to deal with that pressure and expectation and continue to fight and try and improve.

"That's what the positive is."

Lyon said the continued absence of star midfielder Lenny Hayes, sidelined for the season by a ruptured ACL in round two, plus the loss of Leigh Montagna following his minor knee injury last week, had been telling.

"The clearance work is really inconsistent," he said.

"First quarter was really good, third quarter was really bad.

"Clearly our midfield has been weakened.

“Without Hayes and Montagna we're just sort of trying to re-build in there a little bit."