Alan Toovey believes Collingwood's defence will enter the finals in the best shape it's been in this season.

The Pies' backline has been up and down in 2012, with injuries to Nathan Brown, Chris Tarrant, Ben Reid and Lachlan Keeffe robbing of it continuity.

The 25-year-old defender said with every player (bar Keeffe) available and hitting form, the Pies were primed for the Hawks' potent forward line in Friday night's qualifying final.

"The last couple of weeks we've been OK but we're really looking forward to continuing how we went on Saturday night [against Essendon]," Toovey told AFL.com.au. 

"We're probably playing the best we have all year as a back six, so hopefully we can have 'Maxy' (Nick Maxwell) back there as much as possible and have everyone up and ready and keep improving our form as we have the past couple of weeks."

Maxwell spent part of Saturday night's win in the ruck in the absence of the omitted Chris Dawes, and is likely to continue in the part-time role should the forward fail to earn a call up.

Toovey has missed three games this season through injury - rounds 10, 11 and 21 - an improvement from his injury-interrupted preparation to the 2011 finals.

A broken finger suffered in round 17 against Carlton kept him out for a month and affected the rest of his season.

"Last year, it was just a battle to be out there playing rather than being on top of the game," Toovey said.

"It's a fair bit different this year.

"I feel a lot fresher and have that touch of being out on the ground rather than having to come back and try to pick up match fitness again and the pace of the game.

"This time last year compared to now I feel like I'm a lot better prepared and I'm looking forward to the finals a lot more."

After putting together solid performances in the 2010 Grand Final draw and replay against St Kilda, trailing off last year hurt Toovey.

He still managed 10 tackles against Geelong in the decider but the familiar 'Toov' chant was rarely heard across the MCG.

"I'm looking forward to having some really good form and hopefully we go that one step further than we did last year," Toovey said.

Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs