ROSS Lyon says Fremantle's focus is on next round's opponent Adelaide rather than September after the Dockers' top-four hopes took a hit against Richmond on Sunday.

The Dockers entered Sunday's clash at the MCG in fifth spot on the ladder, level with the fourth-placed Sydney Swans on 46 premiership points but almost 16 percentage points behind the reigning premiers.

With Hawthorn (56 points) and Essendon (52) winning this round, and the Cats (52 points) and Swans still ahead of them, the Dockers have work to do over the final six rounds to climb into the top four.


But Lyon is a card-carrying member of the coaches' one-week-at-a-time association and did not let his brethren down after Sunday's game.

"Clearly it doesn't help," the Freo coach said of the Richmond loss. 

"But I don't really talk about aspirations, I talk about our next opponent. We're in positive territory because we take care of reviews, we analyse what needs to be addressed, we train it, we pick out best team and they come and give pretty good effort.

"My focus is now Adelaide isn't it? The aim of every club is to play finals, but you can't play them until you win enough games. So I find if you take care of the short-term, the long-term looks after itself.

"We've worked hard to be in good position with six games to go. We need to get back and have a good week, stick together and train really well and prepare for a tough AFL team."

Ruckman Aaron Sandilands withdrew from the team a day before the Richmond game with a virus, but Lyon said he should return for the Dockers' clash with Adelaide at Patersons Stadium next Saturday night.

Lyon said Freo should also regain defender Nick Suban for the Crows clash but would still be without key players Matthew Pavlich (suspension), Hayden Ballantyne (hamstring) and Luke McPharlin (calf).

The Dockers struggled to find an avenue to goal against the Tigers in the absence of Pavlich and Ballantyne. Chris Mayne (two goals) gave a typically whole-hearted performance but lacked support, with the Dockers soon abandoning their first-half experiment of playing defender Alex Silvagni in attack.

Lyon said Freo had to find a way to kick a winning score with Pavlich and Ballantyne.

"Clearly you prefer them there, but you've got to find a way," Lyon said. 

"But again you score if you can clear the ball or create some turnovers, so we were probably average at both today."

Nick Bowen is a reporter with AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_Nick