Watch Harry take on Brendon Goddard on YouTube.

COLLINGWOOD defender Harry O'Brien looks set to return to the Magpies' side for Friday night's match with St Kilda at Etihad Stadium after missing last week's win over Port Adelaide with a sore knee.

He even put the knee to the test on Tuesday when he took part in a promotional challenge with upcoming opponent Brendon Goddard, booting more than 40 balls at a hanging piñata shaped like a Saint at Gosch's Paddock.

"There's no problems at all. I think my fitness test was actually this challenge, and I'll report back to Mick as soon as we're done and tell him the knee is fine," he said.

"I've still got to get through the rest of the week and we'll make an assessment right up to the last minute."

Goddard won the challenge, destroying his target, a crepe paper Magpie, quicker than O'Brien did the Saint.

But with the key backman and perhaps Chris Dawes returning this week, the Pies will be an ominous opponent when the real stuff begins, particularly given the Saints haven't registered a win against them in their past four clashes.

"It's fantastic to see them improving since the last time we played them and they're in fantastic form," O'Brien said.

"We're going to have to be playing our best to match it with them and we're looking for the challenge."

In round 11 this season, the Pies made light work of the Saints, their 57-point win following on from the premiership triumph in the October grand final replay.

O'Brien said the Magpies had immense respect for the Saints, and had learned from them in the past two years how best to play defensive football.

For his part, Goddard promised the Saints would present a stronger challenge than it did in round 11, which became its sixth loss from 10 games.

"There's no doubt we've improved our footy, and probably our attitude as well, although that [game] was probably at a point where we weren't turning our footy around and it was a bad time to run into the best team in the competition," he said.

"We've definitely improved. Confidence was an issue back then and we've been gaining [that] since about round eight or 10 so it's a good challenge coming up against the best team in the competition."

Goddard said improvement from the list's "middle-tier players", such as Jarryn Geary and Raph Clarke, and the return to form of Justin Koschitzke, who is finally fit, had been an important factor in their season's turnaround.

He said a loss to the Pies after six wins in a row would not set the standard for their remaining games and run into September.

"We've got nothing to prove. There's no redemption or anything either; they're the ones with a premiership medal," he said.

"This week is more about improving, seeing where we're at, and seeing how far we have come.

"This game's not going to determine the rest of the year. Anything is possible for us, and that's the case with the other 16 teams in the competition.

"This week is more about improving and taking another step forward."

However, he acknowledged a win over the ladder leaders would boost the Saints' confidence with matches against the Sydney Swans, North Melbourne and Carlton remaining before the finals.

"Last week we pretty much strung together four quarters of consistent footy, which we've struggled with for the whole year," he said.

"It's more about that rather than getting a gauge on where we're at or where this may take us for the rest of the year."