ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon says Brendon Goddard is a chance to make his return from knee injury in this Friday's clash against the Western Bulldogs.

Goddard has not played at AFL level since undergoing a knee reconstruction after he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against the Sydney Swans in round seven last year.

While the news is good for Goddard, Lyon said defender Matt Maguire would have to wait a bit longer to return from his foot injury.

"Brendon's clearly ahead of Matt at the minute purely because he's got a lot more footy under his belt," Lyon said.

"We'll make some final decisions post-training; Matt's got a fair way to go obviously but Brendon's under consideration. We'll just be guided by our physios and conditioners."

Lyon said Goddard's rehabilitiation had impressed all at the Saints.

"He did every football session over summer except the competitive work. He hasn't had one hiccup. He's been incredibly dedicated from the day he came out of hospital. He's a real role model at this club the way he goes about it."

"It's a real mental battle day in, day out, but at the end of the day he's ready to go and play AFL footy."

Lyon suggested Leigh Fisher could mind Bulldog forward Brad Johnson after holding Adam Goodes and Chris Judd in the opening weeks. The Saints coach also said he was expecting a tough battle between two of the AFL's undefeated teams.

"We want to bring our work boots and make sure we're in the contest because they (the Bulldogs) can blow you away quicker than any other team in the AFL," he said.

"They've got all their run and skill back. They're really up and firing and I think everyone respects the way they play and they're a really difficult challenge."

Lyon said he would persist with having three talls – Fraser Gehrig, Justin Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt – playing up forward, but acknowledged that Riewoldt could be used in defence.

 "You could do that and that is an option at some point. Kosi can [also] play centre half-back but we want to go out and attack games and play to our strengths and let the opposition worry about our talls."

"A forward's job is to not only kick them but see that they are kicked. Kosi's laid a forward tackle every week and if he does that for 22 weeks that puts him in the top 10 in the competition for forward pressure."