CARLTON will give emerging star Charlie Curnow until the last minute to prove his fitness as the Blues consider playing four tall forwards against Hawthorn on Sunday.
Curnow, who has played three games this season, missed last week with bone bruising in his knee.
He was named in the Blues' extended squad on Thursday night, but was unsighted early in their training session at Ikon Park on Friday morning before the squad headed indoors.
"He's had some interruptions, so we'll give him right to the death knock to see if he comes up," coach Brendon Bolton said.
Curnow has kicked only two goals this year after a breakout season 2018 that saw him boot 34 majors from 20 games and become one of the Blues' forward focal points.
Bolton didn't use Curnow's fitness concerns as a reason for his quieter start to 2019, but said it can be a factor.
"I'm not going to give Charlie an out on form. He wouldn't give himself an out," he said.
"But interruptions at this level … when you have players missing, the system breaks a little bit, and players who don't have good pre-seasons or interruptions can take a little bit to settle.
"The one thing, whether it be teams or individuals, is continuity is critical at AFL level."
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If Curnow is passed fit, he appears set to join Harry McKay, Mitch McGovern and Levi Casboult in the Blues' line-up after their breakthrough win over the Western Bulldogs last week.
Carlton hasn't won back-to-back games since 2017, but Bolton said he was comfortable with the number of marking options in attack.
"We think we can play with the talls," Bolton said.
"It's about making sure they're all on different layers. Sometimes they're an exit kick out of defence, sometimes they're in that middle tier and sometimes in that deep tier.
"It's more an awkward look when we're not presenting at the ball and we're all on top of each other. Sometimes when youngsters muck up those patterns, that's what you see."
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