St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has urged his players to make up for the farewell for Robert Harvey that fell flat at the MCG on Saturday night.

The Saints were expected to ride the emotion of a week Harvey announced he would retire at season's end into their AFL match against Collingwood.

Instead they came out with a limp-wristed wave goodbye, especially in the first half, and the Magpies beat them far more easily than the 14-point margin showed.

Even more galling was that Harvey, 36 years young, was his side's best for four quarters as few of the Saints' leaders managed to stand up on a night they should have.

The Saints now slide to the fringe of the top eight, and Harvey's decorated career is in serious danger of lasting just three more matches, rather than the hoped-for send-off in September if the Saints made the finals.

Lyon said he was bitterly disappointed with his side's performance in a critical game, missing the chance to cement a finals berth if they had won and to honour dual Brownlow Medallist Harvey with the respect he deserved.

"He put on a really solid performance and we're going to sadly miss him," Lyon said.

"The players have got some opportunities to show their respect for him the way we go about it the next three weeks."

The Saints play Fremantle away next Sunday, before matches against Adelaide and Essendon at Telstra Dome to round off their home-and-away season.

And Lyon admitted his side had issues to address quickly if they hoped to secure the three wins they needed to assure a finals spot.

"They (Collingwood) made us look slow and inept at times, but we know we're better than that.

"There's a few things we need to fix, but we need to do them quickly and move on.

"The aim is to keep improving and for a fair period over the last six weeks we think we've done that.

"Clearly we've faltered in what was a critical game."

The Saints also have match review panel woes to contemplate on Monday - midfielder Aaron Fiora reported for striking Collingwood first-gamer John McCarthy.

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