ST KILDA sits outside the top eight, star forward Nick Riewoldt faces a fitness test and Fraser Gehrig is on the long-term injury list, but coach Ross Lyon still found reason to smile yesterday.

No doubt the sight of Luke Ball at training on Monday with a protective "moon boot" on his foot raised eyebrows, but the coach shrugged off any concerns surrounding the All-Australian midfielder.

"I almost fell over," Lyon admitted. "I was at Fraser's place having a chat and came back and saw the moon boot, but he's fine, if he was in any risk he wouldn't be out there at an open session with a moon boot on."

Ball left the track early after some light handball work on the sidelines, while Riewoldt joined the main session for the first time since straining a medial ligament against Richmond in round seven.

"He's a really good opportunity to play (against the Brisbane Lions), we're really optimistic he'll play, but he's got two sessions to get through," Lyon said.

Likewise, tagger Steven Baker will be given every opportunity to show he's overcome a jarred knee ahead of the Saints' crucial match at the Gabba on Sunday.

Losing Gehrig for a minimum of eight weeks with hand and groin problems was, according to Lyon, in the best interests of the struggling forward and the club.

The 32-year-old's arthritic hands were the initial concern, but Lyon hinted the dual All-Australian could also be battling osteitis pubis.

"His groins have been sore … is it OP? I don't know, everyone calls it OP," he said.

"We'll hand him over to our conditioning and medical experts and let the cobblers do the cobbling."

The club has reserved the right to promote a rookie onto the senior list at a later date.

In the meantime, Lyon said he'd been working harder than ever before and paying scant attention to suggestions the club's premiership window of opportunity might be closing. "If I walk out the door unsuccessful, it won't be because of articles written on me, it will be what I've done and what the player group has done, which reflects on me," he said.

Approaching the halfway point of the season and facing the Lions — who sit above the Saints on percentage — he resisted any temptation to publicly name players who need to lift.

And while some in the media suggest the Saints' glass is half empty in 2008, Lyon chooses to see it as half full.

"We were in a worse hole last year at 4-7," he said. "If you have a look at the history books a lot of teams have been 4-4, in particular St Kilda's been 4-4 before, so I don't think it's anything to panic on. Brisbane are 4-4 and everyone's tipping them as being potentially top four. Collingwood are 4-4 and they've been tipped to be on the up.

"Clearly, the remaining 14 games are important, none more than the one we've got this week. At some point we'll string a few together and we're keen to start that string this week interstate. Good teams win interstate, we believe we're a good team, so it's a wonderful opportunity for us."