Brendon Bolton has praised Bachar Houli for personally apologising to Jed Lamb for striking him in the back of the head last Sunday.

Lamb is expected to only miss one week with concussion after he was knocked out by Houli in the first quarter of Carlton's round 14 loss to Richmond.

The Tigers defender was initially suspended for two weeks but the penalty was increased to four weeks on Thursday when the AFL successfully appealed the sentence.

Lamb will not face Adelaide on Saturday as he was unable to train and could not be selected for the match.

Bolton spoke with reporters this morning but did not want to dwell on the incident.

"Jed (has suffered) no structural damage but (he's) not quite ready to play," said Bolton.

"From all reports, Bachar reached out to Jed which was a great gesture, but i think what's happened here is the AFL have said that the welfare of players is really important and the head is sacrosanct."

Carlton has 11 players on the club's injury list going into round 15 including Ed Curnow, who will also miss Saturday's game with a bruised larynx, after suffering a heavy knock against Richmond.

Bolton was reluctant to put a time-frame when the mid-fielder may return as it is an "unusual" injury.

"(It's) hard to say at this stage, it could be more than one week, we've just got to wait and see how it settles, because it is quite unusual being hit in the throat like that," Bolton said.

Blaine Boekhurst, Billie Smedts and Jarrod Pickett have been all been omitted from the crows match as Bolton said his teams' defensive efforts have not been up to their usual standards.

"We hold incredibly high standards in terms of performance, (it's) no broader or less than that," Bolton said.

Bolton would not say whether he would tag Rory Slone, as many other teams have, saying the Adelaide star mid-fielder demanded respect.

The Blues have named Harry McKay, 2015 NAB AFL No.10 draft pick, as one of three emergencies for the Saturday Clash. The second-year forward is yet to make his debut but Bolton is "really hopeful" he will by the end of the year.

"He's shown some really good signs in quarters and he's aiming for that four quarter (effort)," Bolton said.

Carlton host Adelaide this Saturday afternoon at the MCG.