THERE was no hiding Michael Voss' disappointment following Saturday night's loss to St Kilda, with the Brisbane Lions coach watching his team's finals aspirations disappear with a "lost opportunity".

The Lions held their last lead late in the final quarter when Simon Black roved and grubbered home a right-footed goal, but the tenacious Saints answered through Stephen Milne and Arryn Siposs to win by 13 points.

The Lions (six wins and nine losses) are now two wins plus percentage outside the top eight, and although Voss said the ladder was not at the front of his mind, he realised they had let a chance slip.

"I certainly feel it is a lost opportunity," Voss said.

"The one thing I know about the character of this group is that's what they do, they'll fight until the end and that's what we'll keep doing.

"I'm proud of the way the guys approached the game. They were good in a lot of areas but your ability to be able to sustain it was something we just couldn't do.

"Their (St Kilda) pressure was very, very good across the whole game. I thought ours was good, theirs was better, sometimes that happens."

Voss lamented a number of easy goals to St Kilda.

Two came directly from forward-50 stoppages to David Armitage and Leigh Montagna, while Nick Riewoldt profited directly from a poor Matt Maguire handpass in the last term - a rare blight on an otherwise flawless performance from the Lions defender.

Voss said it was the Lions' inability to capitalise on their periods of dominance that ultimately cost them.

"It is also encouraging at the same time," he said.

"These guys are bridging the gap. I'm really pleased with where the group is heading, we'd just like to be sitting here with a win and getting reward for effort.

"Sometimes the opposition do it that little bit better and in this instance that was the case."

Voss said the Lions would quickly turn its attention to next Saturday's QClash against the Suns who are fresh from their first win of the season against Richmond.

"We've got the cross-town rivals so there's no way we're dropping our guard," he said.

"We've got to capitalise on the form we're in. I think the guys are in good form and playing some good footy, it's just disappointing when you can't walk away with the four points and make an impact on the ladder like we could have.

"We're professionals, we've got to rock up next week and we've got to dish out the same stuff and we've got to get ourselves better in seven days to get the result we want."

Michael Whiting covers Brisbane Lions news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting