A COMBINATION of injuries and indifferent form at Princes Park are likely to see Carlton ruckman Matthew Kreuzer play out the season in the Blues' senior side.

Brett Ratten has long forecast giving the No.1 draft pick a spell from the rigours of AFL footy in his debut year, but the coach revealed circumstances had conspired to make that unlikely with three games left.

"I daresay Matthew will go through until the end of the season now," Ratten said on Wednesday.

"You can see in the kid's performances the competitiveness in him as a big man already at AFL level. There's some parts of his game that he can't sustain, but overall you just see that hunger and drive; he's a very competitive young man and I think you'll just see him grit his teeth and push on."

Kreuzer, 19, has played every game since overcoming a quad strain to make his AFL debut in round three with injuries to possible replacements Cain Ackland and Setanta O'hAilpin set to extend that run.

Ratten has been highly-impressed with Kreuzer's ability to hold his own in one-on-one duels with more-seasoned opponents during his tough baptism and backed him to poll well in this year's NAB Rising Star award.

"He might not have the dominance of some of the [eligible] small men, but I suppose that's a little bit like the Brownlow medal isn't it? A lot of smaller type players win it rather than the bigger ones," he said.

"He's a first-year kid playing in the ruck, pinch-hitting [up forward] at times, so he's not getting the ground time of some of the others. When you look at his 12 or 14 possessions you might say 'well that was his game', but when you analyse that time he might have played 54 per cent of game time which is a fantastic result for a big fella.

"It's a tough gig for a young man to play in a big man's role at a young age when their bodies are growing and developing and they're giving away weight and experience."