Carlton will be without wingman Blake Acres for this week's game against Port Adelaide, with his absence opening the door for the potential return of youngster Jaxob Binns following his purple patch in the VFL.
Acres was needed to get through training this week to overcome a foot injury sustained in Sunday's victory against the Kangaroos, with the five-day turnaround between matches handing the ex-Saint and Docker an uphill battle to be cleared to play.
At Wednesday's main session the midfielder was unable to persuade his coaches, with Acres limited in his abilities and ruled out of Round 20 due to the setback.
"No, he won't play," Carlton coach Michael Voss said on Thursday.
"We tried to get him going yesterday and he was a bit slower than we'd like.
"With that five-day turnaround it's probably worth him not playing. Someone will have to step up into that role."
The Blues will be forced into multiple changes given the setbacks to both Acres and ruckman Tom De Koning, who is dealing with his own foot injury that has forced him to the sidelines for the remainder of the home and away season.
Voss was unwilling to comment on the selection status of Jordan Boyd (shin), Caleb Marchbank (illness), Orazio Fantasia (calf) and Mitch McGovern (hip), who were also listed as tests to face the Power, while Marc Pittonet has been confirmed to return to take De Koning's spot.
Acres' absence could see one-game Jaxon Binns return to the senior side following his gargantuan VFL performance over the weekend against Collingwood, with the wingman collecting 47 disposals and booting three goals in his best performance to date in the navy blue.
Voss said Binns is in the frame to return, with the club's selection committee needing to find the right balance to negate the Power.
"The great thing about our form is that we've had a lot of players that have been in some good form over the last couple of weeks. We continue to encourage that," Voss said.ย
"[Binns'] last two weeks have been particularly impressive, as have a few others. So we'll balance [the selection call] up against who's in (the side) with the current roles we're asking players to do.
"I've declared Pitto, and Blake won't be playing, but I won't declare too many others at this point in time."
Midfielder Adam Cerra was utilised in a defensive role against North Melbourne given the strength and health of Carlton's engine, with Voss liking what he saw from the 24-year-old.
The Blues coach has flagged it won't be a permanent move for Cerra, but can be one that his side can rely on when needed.
"We thought what he did was pretty positive," Voss said.
"To be able to have something that's a bit different that we can go to... throughout the game we had to call on a couple of guys to shift positions.
"His adjustment was really important to us, it gave us a different look forward of the ball. We had to tweak a few things to sort of get the game back on our terms.
"We'll encourage [the change], but it's not something we're sitting here and saying that we're playing until the end of the year. But if we can go to it we feel it's going to be pretty useful."
Carlton host Port Adelaide at Marvel Stadium on Friday night at 7:40pm (AEST).
