St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has blamed defensive lapses in the first and last quarters for making Saturday's victory over lowly Carlton at Telstra Dome a little tighter than the Saints would have liked.

St Kilda led by 36 points just before three-quarter time before falling in by 10 points.

Had a Bryce Gibbs set shot from 40 metres out gone through instead of just wide, the Blues would have been within a kick with 40 seconds left on the clock.

"I think it was a real worry at the end. Every opportunity we presented them, they took," Lyon told his post-match media conference.

"They took the game right up to us so full credit to Carlton, we knew they were going to be emotional, we knew they were going to be hard at it.

"I think the hard ball gets were 49 to 28 their way so great credit to their hardness."

Lyon said he was generally pleased with the Saints' form and the fact that the club had edged its way into the eight, temporarily at least, as a result of the win.

The Saints will be displaced by the Swans if they defeat Richmond as expected and by the winner of Sunday's Essendon-Adelaide clash, but can't fall any lower than ninth.

Despite the tightness of the race for the finals, Lyon said he wasn't concerned by the Saints' failure to add a percentage point or two against the Blues.

"We'll take the win and it's really hard to get a win in AFL footy but (today) was a really good reminder how quickly your form can go and how quickly you're hurt on the scoreboard when the basics aren't executed so it gives us a strong focus this week," Lyon said.

"Our whole focus coming in was about ourselves and trying to execute those things and it was very patchy today - we'd do it in bursts and Carlton would get on top in those areas - ground balls, tacking those things."

"There is no easy AFL game. If we take care of winning, at some time I think we'll get on top and score heavily."