Carlton are confident they'll have key forward Charlie Curnow back for the Blues' Round 2 clash against Hawthorn amid what is now a winless start to the season for Michael Voss' men.
The Blues suffered a shock 13-point loss to wooden spoon fancies Richmond to commence their campaign, giving up a 41-point lead in the process.
Key forward Harry McKay had support in the form of swingman Brodie Kemp in Curnow's leave, however both attacking options were kept to one goal each.
Speaking post-game, Voss said he does expect Curnow, who has been nursing a knee concern, to be ready in time for next Thursday's meeting with Hawthorn at the MCG.
Small forward Orazio Fantasia (calf) is also in the mix to play his first game of the season next week.
"That's one thing out of the night, and hopefully we get a couple coming back next week for the Hawks," Voss said of his side getting through unscathed.
"Fantasia might be back, he's the other one. I've still got to see how they trained over the last 24 hours, as I don't know that yet."
Voss said his side didn't plan to change too much without Curnow, with Richmond taking advantage of the Coleman Medal winner's absence.
"I don't think we changed too much, but clearly we're getting a pretty good player back," he said.
"He'll help us aerially. One of the issues (against Richmond) was probably being a bit impatient with the ball in hand.
"Richmond were able to sit and defend for long periods of the game. There's not many teams that can do that. They did very, very well.
"They were able to sit, they absorbed, they put the numbers back, they defended the scoreboard as best they could. They threw themselves at everything
"We just needed a little bit more composure, a little bit more clean plays. We need to finish off our plays a little bit better."
Veteran Sam Docherty started the game as the sub for the Blues and had a strong impact once injected into the game, recording 14 disposals and two clearances in just 27 per cent game time.
Voss defended the decision to start Docherty on the bench, noting the call to be what suited his side's selection planning best.
"We take all the evidence in how players have had their pre-season and what form they've been in, and we're comfortable enough we played the players that deserve their position in the team," the Blues coach said.
"Our continual evolution of the football team has been able to give opportunity when it's deserved.
"For 'Doc' on this particular occasion, that doesn't mean it's going to be that moving forward, but on this particular night he's he's the sub.
"From our perspective it might be a constant discussion about who is sub, but reality is someone has got to play it."
