Carlton and Essendon are expected to lose key names through injury for Round 14 after both sides suffered casualties in Friday night's clash at the MCG.

The Blues were able to steady the ship despite losing gun midfielder Adam Cerra in the opening minutes of the 26-point loss.

The ex-Docker suffered "hamstring tightness" and was subbed out in the opening quarter, seeing Matt Cottrell brought into the game.

Speaking after the win, Blues senior coach Michael Voss said the club expects Cerra to miss next week's matchup with Richmond.

"Until he gets scans, like we tend to with these, we'll wait and see what it looks like," Voss said.

"We're certainly hoping it's at the minor end, but hamstring tightness at the moment."

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Voss said he was unaware of any noted ailments for forward Jack Silvagni, who limped off the field in the second half.

The Blues are scheduled to face fellow finals hopefuls and close rivals Richmond at the MCG next Thursday night.

They weren't the only side to sweat on setbacks from Round 13 however, with Essendon hoping a corked calf to star Darcy Parish won't hinder his chances of playing in the coming weeks.

Bombers coach Ben Rutten revealed post-game that Parish carried the injury through the early stages of the loss, before eventually having his night brought to a close.

"He had a pretty significant corkie pretty early on in the game," Rutten said.

"He battled on through it for a while, we tried to spend some time forward where hopefully he didn't have to run as much.

"In the end, it just got too much for him."

The Bombers will await further assessment on Parish's availability for next week's bout with St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.

Rutten detailed that midfielder Andrew McGrath, who was a late withdrawal from the match due to a calf complaint, is expected to face the Saints next Friday night.

The Bombers had welcomed the return of lively forward Jake Stringer, however the 28-year-old struggled to have an impact on the game.

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After missing the past five weeks due to a hamstring injury, Stringer endured a "poor" outing against the Blues, recording no goals and just nine disposals at an efficient rate of 44.4%.

"He had a poor game tonight, he's a senior player for us, we need more from him," Rutten said of Stringer.

"Hopefully he'll get a bounce out of that.

"I don't think [he needs more training]. His last couple of weeks – he would have played last week if we didn't have the bye, so his preparation's been fine."