St Kilda's Ross Lyon knows the close games his AFL team let slip could come back to bite them as they try to keep pace with the top eight.

The Saints' 24-point win over the Western Bulldogs on Friday night meant they kept in touch with the top half of the ladder.

While it was a dour struggle that reflected how far these two teams have slipped since they met in last year's preliminary final, Lyon and Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade praised the players for their effort.

The Saints have now won three of their last four matches, but Lyon is still ruing a succession of close losses at the start of the season.

They lost to Geelong by one point in round one and then drew with Richmond the following week.

"There are some teams in the eight who have won three close ones, so when you're grinding for wins and trying to find some confidence and form, if you get over the line it helps," Lyon said.

"We were certainly fit and available in round one, we let an opportunity go.

"Then probably Richmond, I'd argue it was three pretty good quarters and from there, it's been a battle."

The Cats, by contrast, were unbeaten ahead of this weekend.

Now St Kilda and Geelong play again next weekend and the Cats will start favourites.

But Lyon hopes the duel will sharpen his players' focus.

"What's good is you have a formidable opponent, so there will be no mental lapses there," Lyon said.

"We know what's coming and we've had some fierce battles.

"From my end, it would be great to be able to produce an effort to get into a battle, quite simply."

The two coaches were far from happy with their players' skill execution and for Eade, it cost his team another match.

Eade bemoaned several two-goal turnarounds, where the Bulldogs squandered a scoring chance and then the Saints rushed the ball down the other end to take full toll of the blunder.

One of them was a controversial incident in the third term where Nathan Djerkurra gained a free kick near goal, but team-mate Daniel Cross lost the ball under the contentious new interpretation of the advantage rule.

Under the rule change, the player and not the umpire decides if play should continue after a free kick is paid and Cross took a couple of steps forward with the ball after it had spilled free.

The umpire signalled play on, Cross was tackled and the Bulldogs lost possession, with the Saints goalling moments later.

"I don't like the advantage rule, but under the law it seemed as if Crossy took a few steps with the ball," Eade said.

"So it was stupid, as soon as he picked the ball up he knew it was a free kick, he was 15-20m out, leave it alone."

Star midfielder Adam Cooney was a late withdrawal from the game as he continues to struggle with his knee injury.

Cooney will need surgery at the end of the season, but the Bulldogs will keep trying to play him.

"At this stage, it's okay to keep going," Eade said.

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