St Kilda defender Sam Fisher is sidelined for up to a month after his ankle injury in the AFL NAB Cup final loss to the Western Bulldogs.

The 2008 All-Australian rolled his ankle in the first quarter of Saturday night's game at Etihad Stadium and the injury is worse than what the Saints originally thought.

"It's probably not as good as what we would have hoped," said Saints football manager Greg Hutchison.

"It looks potentially like it might be up to about four weeks, so once we get the full results of the scans, which have been done today, we'll sit down with our medical team tomorrow and plan out where he's at.

"We know it's a significant injury."

Coach Ross Lyon revealed the severity of Fisher's injury at the club family day in Frankston.

Despite the 40-point loss to the Bulldogs, Lyon said the Saints were ready to improve on last year's runner-up finish behind Geelong.

"We're in really good shape, there's been a little bit of a hiccup with Sam Fisher, it's probably a little bit worse than we thought - he'll miss a few weeks," Lyon said.

"That just means someone gets an opportunity to stand up and we're confident we'll go out there and play Saints footy.

"We're ready to go again, we're really hungry."

Lyon said the Cup final had reminded the Saints that they must maintain last year's intensity and keep improving if they are to win the club's second premiership.

"We all start equal, it was a real eye-opener last night - if you drop your effort, you get embarrassed quickly," he said.

Predictably, when Lyon spoke to the crowd he was asked about last September's narrow grand final loss to the Cats.

He said it was vital that the Saints not dwell on that game, but become stronger.

"We need to improve, we gave the loss meaning and the meaning was, well, there are things we can do better in the lead-up and our preparation, our practice and our goalkicking," he said.

"There's a lot of little things that can all add up to help improve us.

"But I think we're in trouble as a club if we all continue to look back.

"2009 is gone, Geelong are premiers, we're runners-up and it all means nothing now."

Lyon was particularly unhappy that the Saints had dropped out of Saturday night's game in the final term, after mounting a strong challenge to the 'Dogs through the middle of the final.

"We were certainly in a mode of the game had gone, but it was disappointing that they dominated that last quarter, I would have liked to see a sustained effort throughout the course of the game," he said post-match.

"So if you talk about what do we need to work on, persistence and our perseverance is a hallmark of a very good team and that's what we're aiming to be."

Vice-captain Lenny Hayes missed the Cup final through injury, but is expected to be available for the round-one match on March 27 against Sydney at ANZ Stadium.

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