Ladder leaders St Kilda inching forward: coach Lyon

While he doesn't expect to go through the AFL season without another loss, St Kilda coach Ross Lyon sees no reason why they can't maintain their table-topping status.

The Saints remained ladder leaders - ahead of Collingwood on percentage - after nailing their fifth win of the campaign with a victory over Carlton on Sunday.

Their only blip has been a one-goal loss to the Magpies in round five.

Last season they held the same win-loss record after six rounds, although sat fifth with four teams locked on 20 points trailing runaway leaders Melbourne.

Ahead of Friday night's clash with Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium, gun-shy fans are wary of the Saints falling away like in 2022 when they dropped four games between rounds 12 and 15 to drop out of the eight for the remainder of the season.

Aware the "narrative" could quickly change on the back of some losses, Lyon said on Wednesday he could see the team continuing to improve.

"Our goals are really clear - every session give us as much as we can, concentrate and learn," Lyon said when asked if expectations had changed given their early success.

"We're just in a state of continuous improvement.

"You can't play in finals until you've earnt the right so we're all just inching forward because if you look too far ahead, you sort of trip over so we're just going to stay in the moment.

"We believe in what we're doing but we understand there's going to be challenges so we'll just keep chipping away at it."

Lyon said it was exciting to be able to add star players to the mix, with key forward Max King nearing a return from a shoulder reconstruction.

While no date has been set, the 22-year-old joined in the first three drills of the main session on Wednesday.

"He's rehabbing really well, he trained incredibly on the weekend ... he's been basically up to 100 per cent speed over the last few weeks so that's getting exciting," Lyon said.

"Tim Membrey came back in and added a bit and it's great to be able to add players throughout the year - clearly Max King is a pretty important asset for us."

Jack Billings is also in the selection mix after impressing in the VFL on Sunday in his first game back from a broken leg.

The clash against seventh-placed Port is St Kilda's first on the big Friday night stage, but Lyon felt they could handle the pressure.

"I think we've handled a lot of pressure this year ... there's in-built expectations to perform in a high performance environment.

"Port Adelaide are a really strong club, well-coached, so we expect a fierce battle."