CARLTON pair Dale Thomas and Matthew Kreuzer won't face Port Adelaide on Friday night after being ruled out with 'soreness'.
Blues coach Brendon Bolton confirmed both players would miss the club's only primetime clash of the year at Adelaide Oval.
He insisted it was not form related and said neither would play in the VFL.
"We've had two six-day breaks ... they haven't come up. They're too sore and won't play footy at all this week," Bolton said.
Off the back of strong reserves form, Cam Polson will become the sixth Blue to make an AFL debut this year.
The 19-year-old follows Harrison Macreadie, Jarrod Pickett, Sam Petrevski-Seton (round one), Tom Williamson (round three) and Zac Fisher (round four) as first-year players getting a guernsey.
And Bolton, casting aside any nerves, says he can't wait to see how they perform on the big stage.
"We don't get to play Friday nights very often and I'm sure there will be a huge crowd so what an opportunity for our guys to embrace that," he told reporters on Thursday.
"They'll be ready for the challenge."
A fixturing quirk means the Blues haven't played at Adelaide Oval since 2014 - when the Power dished out a 103-point belting on their way to the finals.
Patrick Cripps was also backed in to continue his role as midfield warrior despite playing through an oblique strain.
"This game is brutal. He's had more knocks than he's had this year than he's had in other games. It's part of it," he said.
"Its take a fair bit to stop Patrick Cripps ... he'll be right to go."
Bolton said he expected Blues fans to take to Polson, a hard-running midfielder.
"There's another one for our Bluebaggers," he said.
"In the last few weeks he's had around 30 touches and hit the scoreboard at VFL level. He's earned his spot and he's a good little tackler. Just like Fisher last week, we can see upside for our future."
