Less than three weeks after asking the big questions of his AFL team, St Kilda coach Ross Lyon is seeing the answers he wants.

Lyon is far more confident in the lead-up to Saturday night's away clash with Adelaide than the glum coach who wondered publicly about the state of the Saints after the round-three disaster against Essendon.

Then, in a brutally-frank media conference after the loss, Lyon wondered whether St Kilda were in full transition.

St Kilda's 13-point win over win-less Brisbane a week ago was hardly a season-shaping triumph, but Lyon said the unflinching effort that had made the team so strong over the last two seasons was returning.

"As strange as it seems, you can win and have gone backwards in a sense, because you've taken some shortcuts, but you've snuck through," Lyon said on Thursday.

"Eventually, that will catch you out against the elite teams.

"I'm really about improvement and I know coaches are ultimately measured on win-loss, but there are a lot of measurements you can see.

"It might be as simple as one of the midfielders working on their defensive transition ... then we highlight it in the review and it's a nice feeling, the players recognise it.

"We still have great confidence in our capabilities, but you need to deliver on them and we feel we're getting closer to playing our best football."

Lyon added it was critical the Saints not relent on their effort as they try to confirm where they stand this season.

"If we work as hard as we can and we try our hardest and we fall short, at least we can come back and know where we need to improve," he said.

"But if we don't give our greatest effort, it's pretty hard to determine what you really need to improve on - is it effort or is it mechanics?

"That's where we're at."

The Saints face another fierce test against the Crows, who will be on home turf and desperate for their own turnaround after three successive losses.

"It's critical that you start playing your best footy and ultimately you need to get some results," Lyon said.

"They'll have a full house and they're a proud football club and a strong football club.

"We've prided ourselves on interstate performance - it's anywhere, anytime.

"Just because we say that doesn't mean it's going to happen, but we certainly know what's required."

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