Carlton coach David Teague wants his players to find a harder edge after going down to Collingwood

A superstar and fan favourite could be back for Carlton next week after the Blues slipped to a 0-2 record in Thursday’s loss to Collingwood.

Carlton needs to be more ‘ruthless’ after Thursday’s loss to Collingwood. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Carlton coach David Teague has demanded his team have a more “ruthless mentality” after falling to a 0-2 start for the ninth consecutive season.

But the third-year coach also insists his belief in his players hasn’t wavered one iota despite Thursday’s loss to Collingwood, with veteran star Eddie Betts also in line for a senior return.

The Blues headed into the year with high hopes on the back of recruits Zac Williams and Adam Saad, as well as the promise of further development from some of their exciting youngsters.

Only a couple of months ago, president Mark LoGiudice declared the Blues to be well placed to end their finals drought, but that ambition will seem a long way off coming to fruition if they can’t defeat Fremantle next weekend.

“I have absolute belief in this group, we’ll get there,” Teague said post-match.

“I am not going to lose any belief in this group. I know our fans will probably be a bit frustrated, they (players) are hurting, they’re disappointed, we all are.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, and we need to do it.”

The Blues could get a massive morale boost against the Dockers, with Teague suggesting veteran small forward Betts could be included to provide the team with something they were lacking against the Magpies.

“Right now our tackle pressure looked down, Eddie I think was in the top 10 for forward-50 tackles last year, so that is something we need – we need to make sure we’ve got a balanced team,” Teague said.

Carlton coach David Teague hasn’t lost faith in his side. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Carlton captain Patrick Cripps seems be to struggling, but Teague insisted he was not carrying an injury and was confident he wouldn’t fall victim to the quicker game the new rules have been producing so far this season.

“I thought he looked dangerous forward actually,” Teague said.

“I think he was still strong around clearances … the game is continually changing and you need to continually evolve.

“I think he’s quite a hard match-up one v one deep forward.”

Teague highlighted Carlton’s team defence in the first half as their biggest issue on Thursday night as Collingwood helped themselves to 11 goals in the opening two quarters after only managing seven in total against the Western Bulldogs last week.

“And probably how easy they got them,” Teague said.

“I thought early on we were getting a shot and it would go down the other end and they would score.

“Our ability to defend our direct opponent and/or locate him when the ball was in dispute and understanding the risk/reward … I think we just need to tighten that up.

“We need to have a little bit more of a ruthless mentality around our defence.”