St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says midfield star Nick Dal Santo will return from injury for Friday night's big AFL clash with Hawthorn at Etihad Stadium.

Dal Santo was a late withdrawal from the team that lost to Collingwood last round, because of back tightness.

"He'll train tonight and all going well he'll definitely play," Lyon said on Wednesday.

"We certainly took a conservative approach, but the right approach, and it's been the way we've gone about it for the majority of the year and we think it will pay dividends for Nick over the remaining six weeks."

Thrashed by 48 points by the Magpies, Lyon said the Saints were down on their effort and hardness and also needed to improve their efficiency with the ball and attacking play, after scoring just 6.16 (52).

"We're looking to hit the scoreboard more, we really want to score," he said.

"Last year we were top-four attack and defence and we've really slipped on attack for a number of reasons. We've just been really inconsistent.

"We really want to get after the game on Friday night and try to put some scoreboard pressure on and we think it's going to be a cracking game. It's going to be a full house at Etihad and we're keen to improve our football."

He expected the Hawks to provide a great contest, saying both sides were similar, with elite midfielders, power forwards and strong team defences.

Lyon said the Hawks' belting of the Saints in a 2008 preliminary final had been a big driver for St Kilda's current style of play.

"We got blown away and there's still some scars from that," he said.

"Hawthorn's offence really generated from their team defence and their zone, so certainly we looked at that and made some improvements and developed our own, but they were the genesis really I suppose."

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