Carlton coach Michael Voss will back Paddy Dow to replace Adam Cerra as he insists the Blues did not risk their hamstrung star by picking him last week.
Cerra will miss at least a fortnight with a low grade hamstring strain after he faced the Magpies off the back of a week spent under an injury cloud with tightness.
He was the dominant player on the ground before being subbed out at halftime, racking up 20 disposals, six clearances and five inside 50s as Carlton stormed ahead of the premiership favourites.
Voss said the Blues remained “comfortable” with their decision to pick Cerra for the clash despite the star being unavailable for crucial matches against St Kilda on Sunday and Melbourne the following week at the MCG.
“No, we were really comfortable, we felt like we were fairly conservative the week before (the Collingwood game),” Voss said.
“It was fairly minor, and Saturday the week before (Cerra) was almost ready to go. He completed a full week of training … I guess it was one of those situations where something else happened.”
Voss said Dow, a former No.3 pick who is uncontracted beyond this season and being watched with interest by rival clubs, would come into the 22 for just his second start of the season in Cerra’s place.
Dow has endured a frustrating campaign, failing to break into the senior side until round 12 despite a series of dominant VFL midfield displays and being the substitute in five of his seven appearances.
The Blues coach said Dow had been performing his role strongly for the side and did not have to do “anything exceptional” to fill Cerra’s role against the Saints.
“He’s been playing a fair bit of the year, we don’t seem to count the sub as a game but he’s certainly been playing a bit for us,” Voss said.
“He’ll step into that role … he’s been in some really good form. We haven’t asked for anything exceptional and are hoping he doesn’t treat it that way.
“We just want for him to come in and get his job done, and he’s been able to do that in most recent weeks every time he has come in.”
Repeatedly asked how he felt about the Blues sitting inside the top eight after a turbulent season, Voss said he was not interested in reflecting on the period when he and the players were subjected to intense scrutiny.
“We know that we can’t take our eye off the ball … there’s some things we need to value in our game first and foremost, and we can never drift on that,” he said.
“We’ve had a very recent feel on what that doesn’t look like, and we’ve got a very recent feel on what that does look like, so we’ve just got to keep chasing ‘us’.
“We’re done with looking back because we had a period of time when we were dealing with that.”