A week out from the AFL finals, minor premiers St Kilda are going back to basics.

The Saints play bottom side Melbourne on Sunday at the MCG and coach Ross Lyon says there will be some important matters for his players to address.

They have lost their last two games after a 19-match winning streak and suddenly there are queries about their form on the eve of the finals.

"This week, we just want to pick a group to give us the best opportunity - obviously we have some simple focuses, getting our intensity back and trying to bring a trademark effort," Lyon said.

"That's certainly been lacking ... we did a fair bit right last week, but some of the basics didn't thrill us.

"We want to get back on the horse there and bring some real St Kilda-like intensity."

Lyon said there was nothing special about their post-game review after last weekend's loss to North Melbourne, but they addressed simple issues such as the 1.10pm start.

"The majority of our stuff has been at night, so it was a good exercise, we learnt a lot from last week," he said.

"We thought our forwards didn't lead that well and work together, so they've been nailed on that.

"We thought our clearance work early was poor, I think it was 3-11.

"It was about a tardy start in some of those basics and we trained them on Tuesday, we did a little bit more."

Lyon was asked once again about playing on the MCG, which has not been a venue for the Saints since last year's finals series.

He said it was not an ideal situation, but added they had played large grounds such as Subiaco, AAMI Stadium and Launceston's Aurora Stadium well this year.

"I don't know what it means, but I can't control it - I'd take the scheduling off the AFL and put us there a bit more," Lyon said.

"Clearly we love playing at Etihad, we've won six times interstate ... we've been around.

"Certainly, we're rapt to be getting on the expanses of the MCG and it can be a really windy, testing environment, it's a good opportunity for us.

"We're quite comfortable - if anything, we prefer the bigger ground, it gives us plenty of times and space."

Lyon is confident captain Nick Riewoldt will be fit for Sunday, after the key forward needed a scan earlier this week for a jarred knee.

"I almost drove off Nepean Highway (earlier this week), a mate rang me and said `it's on radio, Nick Riewoldt is in getting his knee scanned'," Lyon said.

"He certainly jarred his knee ... but if you look at his last mark, he ran from one side of the 50m arc to the other and then he kicked it 55m and it was just touched on the line.

"He trained on Tuesday, we had to tell him to slow down - he was doing his 10-minute run and he was blowing everyone up.

"He just wanted to show the public he's fine ... barring any mishap (on Friday), we always hold our breath on the last session."

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