CHRISTIAN Salem says a career-best 31-disposal performance against Carlton at the MCG on Sunday will only build his confidence from this point.

Salem, who earned high praise from coach Simon Goodwin post-match, said after some health/injury interruptions in his first three seasons, continuity was his personal aim for 2017.

“For me, it’s [about] consistency,” he told Melbourne TV.

“I haven’t had that for my first three years now, so it’s just the start, so I’m hoping to build on that.

“Coming down back, with Bernie [Vince] out [of the side due to suspension], I thought it was the first time this season I’ve played a complete game, including JLT [Community Series].

“I was pretty happy with it, but first of all I was happy we got the win.”

With Melbourne coming back from a three-point deficit at three quarter-time to win by 22 points, Salem said not all matches could be won in a fashionable manner.

“Sometimes you’ve got to win ugly – you can’t win them all pretty,” he said.

“We dug deep and it took us until three quarter-time to really play the way we wanted to play.

“Last year in round two against Essendon, it was a similar game and then we blew it at the end, so it shows a sign of maturity and we’ve come a long way.

“We kicked 6.3 [to 2.2] in the last quarter, so it shows a sign that they were coming at us pretty hard to their credit. We stepped up a gear and got it done in the end.”