Carlton will nervously await scans of Charlie Curnow’s ankle as coach Michael Voss says “everything’s urgent” following the Blues’ fourth defeat in five games.
It came as Collingwood coach Craig McRae said Jordan De Goey’s season was likely over after he suffered a suspected high-grade hamstring tear during the third quarter.
“I would’ve thought that’s going to be difficult for him to play in the short to medium term,” McRae said.
“I’ve just been told it’s high grade and it’s obviously not great for him.”
The Blues, meanwhile, are resigned to losing Adam Cerra (hamstring) and Matt Cottrell (shoulder) for next Sunday’s crucial clash against Hawthorn but will be desperately hoping their Coleman Medal leader is available after he rolled his ankle midway through the final term.
Curnow finished the game on the field after he went into the rooms for treatment but was unable to impact the game as the Blues repeatedly pumped the ball inside 50 in the dying stages.
“We’ll see how (Curnow) pulls up, but he was able to come back on the ground so at least that’s a positive sign,” Voss said after the three-point defeat.
“I probably need to go back (to see whether he was struggling on the field) … there was a lot going on at that particular time and we certainly got lots of looks (inside 50).
“When you’ve got numbers like that and they’re sort of all jumping up and crashing into one another, it was pretty hard to track.”
Voss claimed the loss was a “step in the right direction” despite giving up nine goals to the Magpies in the second and third quarters, but conceded the Blues were now walking a tightrope.
“Time says (it’s tight), and the games left says that. For us, everything is urgent, and what we’ll do though is we’ll stay composed,” he said.
“I thought tonight was a step in the right direction. We understand we’re not completely ‘back’ … total connection, if you want to call it that.
“But the good thing about it is it’s completely in our control. We’ve got our next opponent, we’ll play them as hard as we possibly can.”
Voss was disappointed with Mitch McGovern’s badly sprayed shot after the siren but said other missed opportunities earlier in the game, including in a horror 1.8 opening term, presented far greater concern.
“I spoke to (McGovern) after … he’s the man in the arena. People make calls on him being in that situation … that’s what games are, they’re about opportunities. Some you get, some you don’t,” Voss said.
“That was an opportunity he had to finish the game … there were plenty of others throughout the game that we could’ve stood up on and we didn’t, and that’s something that we’ll probably more turn our attention to.”