CARLTON coach Brett Ratten credited his team with playing bolder football in Friday night's 12-point loss to Geelong, describing the performance as a "big step forward".

The Blues' competitive loss came on the back of last week's 54-point thrashing at the hands of Port Adelaide, after which Ratten's men were widely criticised for their lack of endeavour.

Ratten admitted to disappointment that Carlton hadn't been able to capitalise on opportunities, but said there was a lot to like about the game.

"I thought our willingness to work and crack in and keep competing was really good, where that's fallen away at times in the last couple of weeks," he said post-match.

"Just to see some of our clearance work, which is something that's been very spasmodic through this season, was pretty good.

"I thought we were a lot bolder with the football, we took the game on.

"It's a step in the right direction.

"It wasn't perfect, but there was a lot to like about it."

The Blues set a pre-season target to finish this season in the top four, but they are now likely to be out of the top eight after this round, and face a daunting trip to Perth to face West Coast next week.

Top four talk has been put aside for now.

"To be honest, we're not looking at the end of the season: 'Are we in the eight? Are we out of the eight?'," Ratten said.

"We're looking at each week."

The Blues had early momentum in the match but missed chances meant their 14-point quarter-time lead was much slimmer than it could have been.

They again controlled play in the last quarter, but could manage only 2.9 up forward.

"That hurt us," Ratten said.

The Carlton coach described Bryce Gibbs' shutdown role on Steve Johnson as "very good" after he held the brilliant Cat goalless.

He also lauded the performance of Irishman Zach Tuohy, who rebounded from defence with pace and booted a superb running goal in the first quarter.

Robert Warnock dominated in the ruck, amassing 30 hit-outs and five clearances before being subbed from the game with a hip complaint during the third quarter.

Ratten said he hoped the big man would be fit to face the Eagles.

"He got a bit tight in his hip area," Ratten said.

"He's been carrying that a little bit, so we knew about it going into the game, and it just got a little bit tighter.

"So we just subbed him out hoping he'll be right for next week.

"We think he should be."