Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says he’s been impressed by Collingwood’s recent form ahead of their MCG clash on Friday night.

The defending AFL champions have won their last seven matches by an average of 42 points but Clarkson feels the Magpies have improved.

“They’re really tenacious and they’ve brought a lot of different players into their side over the past 12 to 18 months and they’ve started to gel together well, it promises to be a really good contest,” Clarkson said.

With forward Jarryd Roughead ruled out after having a skin cancer removed from his lip, Clarkson said he was yet to decide on how his team would line up but that Ben McEvoy had been playing well in their VFL side.