Key pair back soon for Blues

CARLTON coach Brett Ratten has moved to allay fears key talls Jarrad Waite and Michael Jamison will take no part in the Blues' finals campaign.

Waite has been sidelined since undergoing hip surgery after the round 16 clash against the Western Bulldogs, while Jamison hasn't played since suffering damage to the meniscus in his left knee in round 14.

Both have progressed slower than was initially predicted, but Ratten remains confident the pair will return to the field in the next fortnight.

"This week [Waite] did all the work [at training], but I think it is going to be a week to week proposition, a bit like Michael was, depending on how much swelling there is and how they recover after a session," Ratten said from Melbourne Airport on Thursday before the team flew out for Saturday's match against Fremantle.

"I know we're at the pointy end of the competition and we need to get all our A-graders out there, but it will be one that we assess every session. How he pulls up will then change the workload for the next session. It's a session by session thing.

"I think [Waite] will be really close [to returning for the finals]. Hopefully in the bye week [round 23] he'll play in the reserves. That's the target so unless something changes in the next week or two we can't predict that."

Ratten is confident Jamison will play next weekend with a decision to be made on whether that is in the VFL or against Hawthorn on Friday night.

The pair has plenty of time to recover from their injuries, with the first weekend of finals a month away, but they are running out of time to regain peak match fitness, which could force the Blues into some tough selection decisions.

The match committee had no such problems with Andrew Carrazzo, who was given ample time to recover from a calf strain, and comes back into the team after five weeks out.

"We could have played Andrew [last week]," Ratten said.

"But there was a risk factor there and we just thought that if he hurt himself again he'd be out for four to five weeks, which would put him out for the year really."

The fourth-placed Blues are just two points ahead of West Coast, which has a game in hand.

With matches against Melbourne, Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions (all outside the eight) to come, the Eagles have an easier path to a precious top-four spot, but Ratten isn't wasting time trying to predict how the results will fall.

"We're sort of not worried," Ratten said.

"I think everyone's noticed that with the points and the bye that West Coast probably are in front of us because of that extra game, but they've still got to win that game.

"We can only control what we can control.

"It's about getting our game right for the finals and this is a great rehearsal against Fremantle who are a tough team. We've got Hawthorn coming up who are tough and we've got St Kilda coming up who are tough so our preparation going into the finals is going to be really good for us to assess where we're at and what we need to improve."

Defender Jordan Russell is also likely to return soon but will spend another week in the VFL as he attempts to regain peak match fitness, while Shaun Hampson is a good chance to resume next week from a knee injury suffered in round 13.