CARLTON is adamant defender Jacob Weitering did not suffer a head knock in the dying stages of Friday night's thrilling semi-final victory over Melbourne, saying he was struggling to breathe after being struck in the throat.
Weitering appeared unsteady after an innocuous clash involving Joel Smith, but did not come from the ground nor did he undergo a head injury assessment test before the match concluded.
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He ultimately played a key role in the game's most defining moment, taking an intercept mark and starting the chain that led to Blake Acres' match-winning goal with under a minute remaining.
Carlton has since stressed that Weitering did not get knocked in the head, but instead copped a blow to the neck and throat region which made breathing difficult in the moments afterwards.
The Blues did further assessments on Weitering after the match, but gave him the all clear.
Carlton is set to face Brisbane in a preliminary final next week, with injury clouds looming over Sam Docherty (shoulder) and Acres (collarbone) following a bruising victory over Melbourne.
However, the Blues remain confident that Docherty will be fit after playing out the game with a dislocated shoulder while Acres is also set to be cleared despite hurting the collarbone that had caused some initial doubt over his availability last week.
