Despite receiving the four points against the Lions last week, Carlton is striving for a more energetic performance when it takes on St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Blues coach Brendon Bolton conceded his charges didn’t bring the required effort and pressure against Brisbane, and would need to lift against a St Kilda outfit eager to bounce back from an 88-point loss to Adelaide.
“Last week we thought we weren’t quite at that level that we’d like to (be at) so we need to improve,” Bolton told the media on Friday.
“We need to be defined by our pressure, effort and unity.
“We’re making progress. We’re building our offence (but) we’re nowhere near satisfied with it.”
A win against St Kilda would see the Blues at 7-5 before the bye and within touching distance of the top eight, but Bolton refused to be drawn into finals talk, keeping the focus firmly on the Saints.
“The eight’s not a focus of ours at the moment,” he said.
“They (Saints) have multiple threats. We’re preparing for a brutal contest.”
The Blues have made just one change for Sunday, with Nick Graham (omitted) making away for livewire Liam Sumner, who promptly returns after missing a week with an ankle injury.
Father-son recruit Jack Silvagni is one step closer to his AFL debut, having been named as an emergency for the first time.
The story is very different at the Saints, who have made six changes.
Injured quartet Nick Riewoldt (knee), Sean Dempster (knee), Paddy McCartin (concussion) and Hugh Goddard (achilles) join omitted pair Jack Billings and Brodie Murdoch on the sidelines, with Tom Lee, Luke Delaney, Blake Acres, Darren Minchington, Nathan Wright and debutant Lewis Pierce the inclusions.
