COLLINGWOOD ruckman Josh Fraser believes his rock-solid performance against St Kilda on Saturday night will go a long way to restoring his confidence after an injury-riddled season.

Fraser, 26, hurt his posterior cruciate ligament in the AFL's Hall of Fame match in May, and has since endured problems with it that saw him miss senior games from rounds 13 to 17.

He then spent two weeks recapturing match fitness at VFL level, with coach Mick Malthouse stating Fraser was having problems with jumping and was therefore playing as a forward in the twos while recuperating.

However, on Saturday evening in the Pies' spirited 14-point win over the Saints, Fraser played what Malthouse described as his "best game for almost 12 months" with 22 hitouts, 20 touches and four tackles.

"We made the decision to stop playing after the Carlton game and embark on a bit of a rehab process," Fraser told collingwoodfc.com.au, after the win.

"That's been terrific. David Buttifant [club director of sports science] and Rob Hunt [physiotherapist], I've worked pretty closely with them on some strengthening exercises, and that's paid dividends.

"I guess now it's just a matter of getting the game time into me and playing as much as I can in the ruck, and growing in confidence and getting my fitness up."

He said his knee was feeling "great" after his second senior match back, and was gaining more confidence in contesting rucking situations with each week that passed.

"It felt really good last week as well but with the way Hawthorn play, it was really hard to find space," he said.

"Tonight was a big plus and hopefully I can build on that for the rest of the year."

Fraser, as vice-captain of the side, said the win will ultimately do more than just boost his own self-belief, with the Pies recording a much-needed victory.

"I think it goes a long way to giving everyone some confidence," he said.

"We've had a pretty lean month and to get a win on the board, the boys go home happy and will get a good night's sleep tonight, and then we can switch our attention to Port next week.

"The playing group has already gotten together to talk about the shortened week, so we'll just put this game behind us and look after ourselves and train well this week."