HOW CARLTON has missed Andrew Carrazzo.

Eight long weeks he'd been out of the team before Thursday night but he immediately jumped back into the fold as the best Blue in another tight loss to a fine side.

He started as a defensive forward on Eagles superboot Shannon Hurn but did his best work when switched to Daniel Kerr in the second term.

Kerr had started like a train and Carrazzo not only quelled his influence, but became the pivotal player in Carlton's revival that saw it grab the lead at three-quarter time.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten was certainly glad to have him back.

"That's why, as a coach, you love picking Andy because you know what you're going to get at every contest and what the game means to him," Ratten said.

"That just shows the player he is, to come back from eight weeks off and have 28 possessions and start his game on Hurn and then end up reducing Kerr's influence on the game.

"I thought it was just a brilliant performance and it's just a credit to him."

Carrazzo said he wore a guard to protect a scar from where a plate was put in his broken shoulder blade, but was pleasantly surprised by how he felt fitness-wise.

"I actually felt pretty good and was personally happy that I could get through the game OK," Carrazzo said.

"I think we've gained a bit of confidence back in ourselves in the past couple of weeks. We probably had a disappointing month before that.

"We have spoken about playing bold and playing simple footy and I think in the last two weeks we've regained some of that confidence.

"The break has probably come at a good time where we can reassess our position and reset our goals for the rest of the year."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.