Ross Lyon believes the difference between Fremantle and top three sides Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney is consistency.

The senior coach was asked if he agreed with popular opinion that the current top three teams on the ladder were ahead of Freo.

Lyon said that commentary was based on fact.

“Their performances are in numbers,” he said.

More specifically, Lyon said the top three had displayed superior consistency compared to Fremantle and the rest of the competition.

“I thought to half time, after the first 10 minutes, we dominated last week (against Adelaide),” he said.

“We went to sleep in the third quarter and then had to go to work.

“It's about consistency for us and improving those things we've already highlighted.

“There's an urgency to it but we think we've got a lot of improvement in us.”

After Fremantle plays ninth-placed Carlton this Saturday night, the club rounds out the home and away season with matches against GWS (18th), Melbourne (17th), Port Adelaide (8th) and St Kilda (16th).

The club won’t get to rest itself against any sides ahead of it on the ladder before the finals begin, but that didn’t concern Lyon.

He said the team considered every match it plays as a test against itself and highlighted last year’s round 16 win over lowly Melbourne as a launching point of Freo’s assault on the 2012 finals

“Everyone thought it was only Melbourne, but the way we went about it, we then transferred it into the final against Geelong,” he said.

“So it's more about ourselves and what we do than what the opposition does.”