The immediate future of veteran St Kilda spearhead Fraser Gehrig remains clouded after Saints' coach Ross Lyon gave mixed signals on Tuesday when asked what the future holds for the man known as 'The G-Train.'

The dual Coleman Medalist has been on the outer for the past two weeks, since being dropped after the round four loss to Geelong, and last week made a rare VFL appearance for the Casey Scorpions.

But while Lyon said Gehrig was 'in strong contention' to return for this week's clash against Richmond at Telstra Dome on Saturday night; he also said the 32-year-old was increasingly struggling with the pace of the modern-day game and with continued hand problems.

Gehrig retired at the end of last season only to then do a backflip months later and nominate for the national draft - where the Saints reclaimed their leading goalkicker of the past five seasons at pick 57.

But in just three senior appearances this season, Gehrig has managed a total of just 20 disposals and seven goals and has not laid a single tackle.

Lyon admitted on Tuesday it was getting harder for the Saints to justify being able to play all three of Gehrig, Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke in the one forward line - which makes it easy for opposition teams to run off the giant trio and turn defence into attack.

"He is in my plans no doubt about that but it has got more difficult with the way the game has gone," Lyon said when asked about Gehrig's future on Tuesday.

"The game has got quicker, the backs run so hard now and forward pressure is such a key element of success."

"And that (the Saints' lack of forward pressure) is compounded by our forward structure because if you look at Riewoldt and Koschitzke, they are really tall men so it is getting harder and harder to play three talls (in the one forward line)."

Lyon said it was difficult to gauge whether the Saints attack had performed better or worse in Gehrig's absence during the past two matches - given their contrasting results in those games.

"It depends which week you ask me because against Essendon we kicked 18 goals (and won in Gehrig's first game out) but last week we kicked only nine (and lost)."

Lyon also said Gehrig's hand problems were getting worse not better.

"His hands are an issue with him because his hands are very arthritic and sore and it is affecting his ball handling," he said.

"In the off-season in the warmth they feel pretty good but it's pretty cold in Melbourne at this time of the year."

However Lyon said Gehrig has not considered going back into retirement.

"Retirement will be up to Fraser - his career is self-determining," he said.

"He was keen to come back and we went through all the issues with him and he knew what lay in front of him."

"There is no guarantees for anyone in AFL footy, I can only control today."

But while Gehrig does appear certain to retire again at the end of this season, his strong recent record against Richmond does have him in line for a senior recall this week.

Gehrig has booted 20 goals in his past three matches against the Tigers - including five in both encounters last season.

"Last week (in the VFL) he had 15 or 16 possessions and he has four goal assists and he has got a very good record against Richmond so he will under come under strong consideration," Lyon said.