DALE Thomas is not considered an automatic recall to Carlton's senior side next week after being sent to the VFL for drinking before a game.
The veteran Blue will miss this Sunday's clash against Essendon as punishment for drinking alcohol last Friday night, two days before the club's loss to St Kilda.
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Carlton gave him the VFL sanction for his "poor" decision to drink the night before training and so close to a game, but coach Brendon Bolton wouldn't guarantee the former Collingwood star would return next week against Brisbane.
"I'm not going to make that call right now. We'll do what's best for 'Daisy' and what's best for us. There's lots of layers now, form being one of them," he said.
Daisy knows he got caught up in the moment, [it was] inappropriate - Brendon Bolton
Bolton said he sat in on the leadership group's meeting as they decided the punishment for the 31-year-old.
"[We're] disappointed, no doubt about that. Daisy's owned it and he's disappointed as well. Our leaders met and they've got standards around drinking and drinking close to the game and they've set the tone.
"Daisy knows he got caught up in the moment, [it was] inappropriate, and we've sent a clear message to our playing group."
The Blues are languishing at the bottom of the ladder and staring down the barrel of their third wooden spoon in the past five seasons.
Thomas' off-field ill-discipline has only added to the situation facing the club, but Bolton said pressure on the Blues had not risen because of it.
"There's always pressure in this caper. It doesn't change, it's there all the time," he said.
"If you're on top of the ladder there's pressure, and if you're where we are there's pressure.
"We've had a couple of games [we've lost] where it's under two goals and six under 20 points, so in six games we're right in the hunt, we just need to put those games away."
The absence of Thomas, combined with injuries to Mitch McGovern (ankle) and Kade Simpson (soreness), means Carlton heads in with an inexperienced line-up against the Bombers.
The Blues have a good record against Essendon under Bolton, winning three of the five contests since he took charge at the start of 2016, but the coach said they weren't approaching the clash any differently.
"Every week's urgent. We're trying to win every game and the urgency's always there," he said.
"Just because it's Essendon we don't say it's any more urgent than any other game, but we know they're traditional rivals and they'd be talking about that as well."
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