St Kilda coach Ross Lyon can live with the death of the streak, provided his players learn their AFL lessons.

Essendon beat the Saints by two points in a pulsating game on Sunday, ending St Kilda's winning streak this year at an outstanding 19 games.

Statistics over the last month show the Saints' ability to win contested possessions has not been quite as ferocious as the stellar benchmarks they had set earlier in the season.

The Bombers more than matched the Saints in that area before running out of steam in the last term.

Lyon had told his players at three-quarter time to play positive football and he felt they improved marginally as they almost snatched an unlikely win.

But now comes the big test - whether they have learned their lessons and can return to their best for next month's finals.

"There was no real disappointment - it was a different feeling, no doubt," Lyon said of his reaction to the loss.

"But I probably slept as sound as I had once I watched the tape.

"If I thought we couldn't fix it, I'd be concerned, but there's things (where) we know what we've got to do to fix those areas of concern."

Coaching great Allan Jeans was fond of talking about three basic moments during a football match - we have the ball, they have the ball, or everyone is fighting for the ball.

Lyon says the Saints have dropped off in that third element, otherwise known as contested possession.

"You talk about the three phases and it's the most important phase, when the ball is in neutral, getting our first hands on it," he said.

"To Essendon's credit, they did a fantastic job of that, so we had a focus on that this week and it will be a focus going in against a strong contested-ball team in North Melbourne.

"It's something ... that we've been solid at, but it just highlights that when you have lapses, you pay the ultimate penalty.

"The challenge now is to (practice) it on the track ... if we get it back on track, it means it's been good for us, but if we continue to struggle, it's going to be a concern, no doubt."

The Saints will start strong favourites on Sunday against the Kangaroos, who have appointed Brad Scott as their new coach.

But Lyon is wary of North, saying their players have points to prove to their incoming boss.

"They're a really proud club and they have some great competitors," he said.

"They respect (caretaker coach) Darren Crocker and it's about self-respect ... trying to shine on an AFL stage.

"There will be a number of players there trying to prove they're a part of the solution and not the problem with the new coach watching."

Clint Jones and Andrew McQualter should return, but Lyon did not want to comment on veteran Luke Ball.

The midfielder has been back in the seniors for a fortnight and had a quiet match against Essendon.

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