Carlton coach Michael Voss insists his side have improved, and used Saturday night's narrow loss at the hands of Fremantle as his evidence.
The Blues pushed a Fremantle outfit boasting significant scoring power, a miserly defence and a dynamic midfield, ultimately falling short by less than three goals.
His side's ability to make changes and stem bleeding in key areas, in-game, was particularly pleasing for the fifth-year Blues coach.
"Every time we were challenged, we responded," he said, post-match.
"This game doesn't always go your way, but you can choose your response. And what I felt we did right throughout the week is we gave that response.
"We couldn't get our hands on the ball from stoppages early … we responded. We had some centre square bounce [goals] kicked against us. We responded. Last quarter, they put a few minutes on, we could have given up. We responded.
"We're a much better version of ourselves than what we were a month ago. But clearly we're at the point where a good team like Fremantle can flex, and we just can't minimise that scoring damage."
After a tough week for his family, utility Ollie Hollands was withdrawn from the clash, and was replaced ably by Matt Cottrell.
Voss discussed that decision and the importance of the rallying a football club can do around one of its own, with candour, in the aftermath of the loss.
"It's been a big week for everyone, and a big week for the family. He wanted to play. He's an absolute competitor, (but) we just felt with how the week has played out, it'd be better to maybe sit this one out," Voss said on Saturday night.
"He's in a good space, but we obviously felt like it was probably the better way to go.
"It was important to be around his mates. Football clubs are amazing like that. We can talk a lot about what's happened, but football clubs and how we embrace our people and how we look after our people is the thing you love.
"Having that sense of belonging to someone and something … it was probably a good opportunity for us to be able to travel to be honest and come away as a football team with a mission."
"This was a really important game for us to get a response. It's fine to talk about what we stand for as a football club, but at the end of the day, when we walk on that grass, how we conduct ourselves is very, very important," Voss said.
The Blues host St Kilda on Saturday night, with Hollands one of many likely inclusions. Bigs Harry McKay and Marc Pittonet are also in the frame to return.
