Brisbane coach Chris Fagan isn’t about to tell his side to slow down despite admitting the team was guilty of rushing things in a first-round loss to St Kilda.

The Lions face Melbourne at the Gabba on Saturday with Fagan hopeful the side’s fast feet will this week play in their favour.

“We definitely went too fast in the first quarter and that proved costly for us,” Fagan said.

“We couldn’t set up any defence if we didn’t score ourselves, turned the ball over.”

There won’t be a conscious effort to curb their transition speed against the Demons though, with Fagan seeing that as a potential strength if they get their hands on the ball.

“The game’s not about slowing down; it’s about going fast and going slow or medium speed whenever you need to and the decisions around that,” he said.

“It will be (an advantage) if we win contested ball, it won’t be if we don’t.

“To get the advantage in speed, you need to get the ball on the outside and give those blokes a chance to do their work.”

The battle for possession will be critical, Fagan says, and is why Rhys Mathieson’s return from a hamstring injury will be pivotal.

“He’s a really good contested ball player, and in a game against Melbourne, a team who we think are very strong in that area, we thought he was a logical replacement (for the suspended Mitch Robinson),” Fagan said.

“We’ve stood up to some teams in the last month or so, Sydney and Gold Coast and St Kilda, who are all pretty strong in that department and we’ve competed equally as well if not better in that area.”

“This is just another test for our group and we’re looking forward to it.”

In-form Lions tall Stef Martin will go up against Demons ruckman Max Gawn, who missed a late set shot for victory against Geelong last weekend.

“Stef Martin actually plays pretty well against him and is in good form himself,” Fagan said.

“We respect Max but don’t fear him … (but) the key battle is when the ball hits the deck.”