St Kilda was taking a low-key approach to next week's qualifying final clash with Geelong after earning the right to a double chance with a 108-point thumping of Essendon at Telstra Dome on Sunday.

While Saints fans were jubilant their side snatched fourth place from Adelaide, their coach and players were already turning their attention to mission impossible - beating Geelong.

Not only did fourth deliver the double chance, it also ensured the Saints would not have to travel further than the MCG during their finals campaign.

The Saints' task was made even tougher by a season-ending knee injury to Sean Dempster, who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, while injury clouds hover above Brendon Goddard and Adam Schneider.

Saints coach Ross Lyon said all St Kilda had done on Sunday was earn the right to play Geelong - nothing more, nothing less.

The Cats, Lyon said, were the 'hottest team in the AFL'.

"And we speak about them as the benchmark team, the way they go about it, their effort, their consistency, that's where we're trying to get to," he said.

"It's the biggest challenge in football but we've earned the right to be there and we're excited about trying to play our best footy against what's proven to be the best team in the competition."

"They haven't been beatable for the last 21 weeks. There's one team that's beaten them. I'm not here to talk about Geelong."

All Lyon wanted to see from his team next week was a continuation of the improvement which had yielded the club eight wins from its past 10 outings.

"I don't think you can pin it down to one thing … or a couple of things," he said.

"We've just put our shoulder to the grindstone and turned the wheel slowly but surely and improved our contest and our pressure."

"Our defence has really been strong, as in team defence, and gradually we've improved our attack as well. We try and train well, we try and prepare well for the opposition and we continually try and improve our footy."

Lyon said the prospect of finishing fourth was the 'furthest thing from my mind until it became a mathematical possibility'.

The Saints had entered the Round 22 clash needing to win by in excess of 15 goals to overhaul Adelaide.

"But I can understand everyone being excited. At the end there was a fair bit of buzz and it became real," he said.

"When almost an impossibility becomes real everyone gets excited. We've got to move on pretty quick we've got to recover and everyone knows how dominant the Cats are."

Essendon coach Matthew Knights favoured Geelong to win next week but acknowledged the Saints were hot.

"St Kilda fixed up Adelaide good and proper and they played well today," he said.

"They're in good form, real good form."