St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says recent history will have no bearing on Sunday's clash with North Melbourne, as both teams aim to keep their finals hopes intact.

The Saints proved far too good in two meetings between the sides in 2010 with an average winning margin of 78 points, but Lyon believes it's a far more daunting proposition this time around.

"We're looking forward to a really big challenge on Sunday," Lyon said in his weekly media conference.

"Clearly they've (North Melbourne) made big inroads. They've won four in a row and they're looking for five. We're a scalp that they traditionally haven't been able to get lately.

"They'd probably see us as a scalp but certainly where they are at now, we're probably hunting them just as much."

Lyon's assistant Steven King also shared his respect for the opposition.

"We've had a good look at the Kangaroos and their form is as good as any going around at the moment," King told saints.com.au.

"We're going to have to be on top of our game and hopefully we can match them especially in the clearance area where they are probably ranked one in the AFL, so they are going to be hard to beat."

Teams have struggled coming off the bye this year, but last year's runner-up has taken measures to emulate its previous result following a week's break when they prevailed against the Lions away from home.

"It's our second bye for the year and we were lucky enough to win our last one. We sort of hit the players up straight away after their break mentally and a bit physically as well just to get their mind back into gear," King added.

"It's definitely something that we are aware of, and hopefully will get the boys off to a fast start."

The Saints broke routine and gave their players five days off last week