DESPITE a 75-point turnaround that St Kilda coach Ross Lyon described as an obliteration at the hands of the Western Bulldogs, he said the Saints would rebound in time for next week's game against Geelong.

After heading to the first break 37 points ahead at Telstra Dome last night and looking like coasting to their third straight win of the season, the Saints were left with few positives, other than the return of Brendon Goddard from knee surgery.

"Clearly we've got some concerns," Lyon said.

"After quarter time we were obliterated in the midfield … clearly we struggled, but I thought it really started in the midfield. They're the facts laid bare.

"Clearances were really poor through there, it was an annihilation in the contests through the midfield.

"Games are won and lost through the midfield, you can package it up any way you like, if you get beaten in clearances, get beaten in midfield ground ball, you're not going to get much flow."

He said Goddard, who played his first game since knee surgery almost 12 months ago, contributed strongly under adversity.

"We're a really good group, we've been up for a while … so we'll regroup, we'll rebound and we'll get going again," Lyon said.

"It (the loss) is not catastrophic … it is in isolation, but in the context of the season we're two (and) one.

"We play the benchmark team next week, so that will really switch us on straight away."

Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade, who celebrated his 50th birthday yesterday, said it was "a good win against good opposition" and was not "doom and gloom" at quarter-time.

"Just towards the end of the second quarter we looked to have a bit more run than the opposition, we spoke about that at half-time and the players pushed on," he said.

"It was a good win because it was against good opposition, they're a quality side as we all know and they've had the wood on us through probably height and some physicality at times."

The one down note for the unbeaten Bulldogs came before the match, with the club learning yesterday that young half-forward Shaun Higgins' ankle injury received last week against Melbourne was worst then first feared.

Eade said he had damaged ligaments and was expected to be sidelined for 12 to 14 weeks.

With AAP