Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says statistics suggest it will be a more attacking St Kilda on Saturday night than what the club faced in the now infamous 'Ugly Betty' game in round eight.

While the widely panned match under lights at the MCG two months ago featured ultra-defensive tactics and just seven goals to three-quarter time, Clarkson said the Saints have 'tweaked' their game plan in a bid to keep their slim finals hope alive.

He said before training at Waverley on Friday St Kilda averaged 11-12 goals prior to the mid-season break but had increased that to about 14-15 over the past four matches.

It has not been just the game plan however with St Kilda, which has won three of its past four matches, boosted by several key returns such as defenders Max Hudghton and Matthew Maguire in recent weeks.

"Their form since the mid-season break has been first-class and they had a bit of a slip up against Collingwood and they could have quite easily won that game as well," Clarkson said.

"Their last month has been very good and we need to play at our best at the weekend."

Clarkson admitted fans might not have enjoyed the low-scoring contest the last time the teams met, but he claimed the team benefited enormously from that match and did not promise anything different this time around.

"A lot of people said it was the worst game that was ever played but that's the great beauty of AFL football, you get all types," Clarkson said.

"When it is a real tug-of-war ... you've got to consider different type of tactics."

"Funnily enough, finals are more often won with low-scoring games than high-scoring games so you need to work out how to go about playing them."

Clarkson said skipper Richie Vandenberg was making good progress in the VFL, having played stepped up from half a game two weeks ago to running out three quarters of a match last week and improving his match conditioning.

"He'll come into calculations over the next couple of weeks," Clarkson said of Vandenberg, who has been out with a shoulder injury.

Injured Hawks Mark Williams (knee) and Tim Clarke (Achilles) had also resumed running and it is planned the pair will start ball work in the next two or three weeks.

"If they respond well to that then they will be available in the later rounds of the season," Clarkson said.