CARLTON coach Michael Voss has described Elijah Hollands as "shattered with his game", saying the Blues gun was emotional after the side's narrow defeat to Collingwood on Thursday night.
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Hollands finished with just one disposal during the five-point loss, spending the majority of the final quarter on the bench as teammate Talor Byrne missed the chance to draw the match with a kick after the final siren.
"He's pretty shattered with his game, to be honest with you," Voss said afterwards.
"I spoke to him after the game and he was really disappointed with how he started. He was really upset and feels like he's let me down. I had a good chat with him. He was pretty emotional after the game. He didn't play a great game and he struggled to get his way into it.
"He feels, clearly, really disappointed with his performance. Obviously, with the importance of the night, he feels like he's let people down. But we just have to keep supporting people through those situations."
Voss was asked if he was worried about Hollands during the final quarter, but said Carlton's decision to keep the 23-year-old on the bench was due to the Blues looking for the right mix in their midfield rotations.
"Other than he was clearly disappointed with himself," Voss said.
"He was disappointed with how he was playing, so when it comes to the last quarter, you obviously have to work out what mix you've got with five minutes to go and what you want on the field. He wasn't having a great night, so we were in constant conversations with him.
"We obviously thought the best mix was to not have him out there."
Carlton key forward Harry McKay is set to miss next week's trip to Western Australia to face Fremantle after being ruled out of the game following a head knock, sustained midway through the final term.
McKay has battled multiple concussions across the course of his career, though Voss wasn't drawn on whether the former Coleman Medal winner had failed his HIA assessment test.
"He was ruled out. That's about as much as I can tell you," Voss said.
Byrne received a free kick with 15 seconds remaining and with Carlton trailing by six points after being decked behind play by Collingwood's Josh Daicos, but his kick after the siren to draw the match drifted left.
It meant the Blues were resigned to a fifth defeat in six matches to start the year, though Voss said he was pleased by how young Byrne's teammates immediately came to support the fourth-gamer.
"It's understanding that it's not all on the young man's shoulders," Voss said of Byrne.
"We had a conversation then and it's like … he's probably rehearsed that in the backyard 2000 times. At the MCG, playing against Collingwood, game on the line, siren has gone. But what was important was that our team supported him through that.
"He didn't quite get the job done, but the boys rallied. You win together, you lose together. In that particular moment, it was good to see the players get around him as strong as they did. But he was a pretty upset young man. But he needs to know he doesn't need to own all of that. I'm sure that he'll take his next one."