Collingwood are confident they can overtake Sydney in the AFL top four and their form against the league's best sides suggests they are more capable of doing some damage if they get there.

The Magpies continued a dominant recent record against the Swans, by completely stifling them in Saturday night's 11.13 (79) to 6.14 (50) win at ANZ Stadium, their fifth successive victory against Sydney.

It was a crucial result as Collingwood push for the all-important double chance, bringing the fifth-placed Magpies within six premiership points of the fourth-placed Swans.

While that gap suggests Sydney have shown the better form of the two over the first 14 rounds, none of the Swans' nine victories or one draw so far this year have come against a side currently in the AFL's top six.

They play the other five of those clubs over the final eight rounds, starting with third-placed Hawthorn at the MCG next Sunday.

The Magpies, by contrast, have now notched comprehensive victories over top-four sides Geelong and Sydney.

And they have a much easier run home than the Swans, with only three encounters to come against top eight sides, including another meeting with Sydney at Telstra Dome in round 21.

"Everyone wants a top-four spot. We're still fighting," Collingwood key forward Travis Cloke said.

"If we keep going the way we did (against Sydney last night) I think definitely we can look top four.

Veteran fullback Shane Wakelin, who thrashed Sydney's Barry Hall in their one-on-one duel last night, was equally optimistic about the Magpies' chances.

"It's in our hands, we've got Adelaide next week and the way the four is panning out, I think Sydney play Hawthorn, so it's entirely up to us and that's the way we love it," Wakelin said.

"It's going to take a hell of a lot of hard work, but I think we've got the group to really continue to compete for the last eight weeks and if we play the way we did (last night), we should be around the mark."

The Magpies' win was based on their ability to put the Swans under constant pressure, with Sydney struggling to move the ball with any cohesion and managing just two goals in the first three quarters.

Their final score of 6.14 (50) continued a run of low scores against Collingwood, having averaged just 70 points in their five-match losing streak to the Magpies.

Sydney coach Paul Roos admitted Collingwood appeared to have his club's measure at the moment and he conceded the Swans were yet to prove they could match it with the AFL's elite.

"At this particular time we've got some work to do against those teams," Roos said.

"Geelong are clearly the best team in the competition. We played them at Kardinia Park and did pretty well for three-and-a-bit quarters. The Bulldogs, we did pretty well against (them).

"Going into the season, it was going to be a bit of an unknown for us as well. So we are still finding out what this group is capable of doing and we'll find out over the next eight weeks."

Roos said they would need to find improvement quickly to have a chance against the Hawks.

"Absolutely. I rate Collingwood very highly, they're a quality side and Hawthorn are a good side as well, so we are going to have to play a lot better than we did," he said.

The Swans could have to face the Hawks without Hall, after the burly forward threw his elbow towards Wakelin's face during the second quarter of last night's match.

While the contact appeared to be very minor, if he is found guilty of even the lowest grade charge he will face suspension, given the penalty loading hanging over his head following his seven-match ban for his wild punch on West Coast's Brent Staker at the same venue in round four.

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