Carlton coach Michael Voss says there are still plenty of positives within the group despite a harsh reality check during Saturday's loss to Adelaide.
The Blues hit the road with three consecutive wins under the belt, including an impressive victory over Geelong, but when met with the pressure as the visitors, they failed to pass the test.
Voss lamented his side's inability to win the ball at the contest, losing clearances 38 to 30, but more significantly, centre bounce stoppages 16 to 6, which traditionally, has been a strength of the Blues.
"We let ourselves down, and we were beaten too much around the ball. They went from inside to out really quickly on us, and we weren't able to contain it," Voss said.
"We got some pretty good feedback around the things we need to be able to get right in our game, that we didn't get right tonight.
"But the reality was, even in the first 10 minutes of the game, our method around the ball wasn't good enough.
"We lost critical territory in the game, roles that we have valued, didn't get played well enough.
"And the rest of the game played out somewhat the same. In the 10 minutes, I think we had five forward-half turnovers, and just being able to play simple things and do simple things, have simple plays, we weren't able to execute it.
"To Adelaide's credit, they applied the pressure for the entirety of the game."
Over the past three weeks, Carlton has been one of the stingiest teams in the competition, limiting the opposition's ball transition from one end to the other, which was reflected on the scoreboard.
Against the Crows, they were unable to deal with it.
But Voss has remained positive that remnants of their game remain intact, and that despite the loss, the Blues aren't far off where they need to be.
"I think there's enough evidence there, and there's a body of work to see that the contest around our contest has been very strong for pretty much the entire season," Voss said.
"The way we've defended has been pretty strong for the season, so having belief is about being able to have a body of work.
"We've got a body of work, so we didn't get it done tonight, but belief is built off evidence over time, and there's been some things we've been working on our game that we've been able to right in the last few weeks. But none of the phases came together today, it was hard work the whole day."
The Blues will now prepare for a must-win clash against a revitalised St Kilda outfit on Friday night.
