North Melbourne coach Brad Scott says claiming big AFL scalps such as Saturday night’s win over Collingwood doesn’t tell him much about whether the Kangaroos can do some finals damage.

North are on track to play finals for the first time since 2008 after beating the Magpies 13.13 (91) to 8.13 (61) at Etihad Stadium, their ninth win in 10 games.

While the Kangaroos have already posted wins over other finals-bound teams Geelong and Adelaide, Scott said they still had to improve if they were going to be able to repeat those sorts of victories in September.

“We’re on 13 wins so that says we’re going to play finals, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do on our game,” Scott told reporters.

“A lot of our players haven’t played in finals but I think they’re smart enough to realise that there’s going to be a big step-up in intensity.

“While we’ve played some pretty good footy against some pretty good teams, we’ve got to expect their very best.

“I don’t think (Magpies coach) Nathan Buckley would be saying Collingwood were at their very best.

“Dane Swan’s still to come back into that side.

“We’d look forward to getting (Nathan) Grima and (Daniel) Wells back.

“We’ve had some good wins, but we’ve just got to remember what makes us a pretty good team, because Hawthorn reminded us 11 weeks ago how bad it can get if we don’t focus on those things.”

The Kangaroos’ hot run followed a 115-point whipping from the Hawks in Launceston.

Scott said while he always knew his players had the talent to turn their season around, the round 10 debacle tested his belief that he was the man to bring that out of them.

“I certainly doubted myself more than I doubted the players,” he said.

“I’ve got great belief in the character of our players, but of course it surprised me how well they got through the tough period and how well they’re playing now.

“I always knew they had the capability but the challenge was to keep the morale up when everyone around you is trying to drag it down.”