Dayne Zorko says Lions can end Carlton's finals bid

DAYNE Zorko says a desperate Carlton will be trying to salvage their finals hopes and Brett Ratten's coaching job on Saturday night.

BRISBANE mature-age rookie Dayne Zorko says a desperate Carlton will be trying to salvage their finals hopes and Brett Ratten's coaching job at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

Carlton are two games outside the top eight with four rounds remaining and need to beat Brisbane to have any chance of qualifying for September action.

Ratten is under enormous pressure to stay at the helm at Carlton, with the likes of former Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse and ex-Sydney mentor Paul Roos looming large over the senior coaching position at Princes Park.

Zorko said while the Blues had no shortage of motivation, Brisbane would dearly love to snuff out Carlton's finals aspirations to give the Lions hope of better times next year.

"Brett Ratten's job is probably still on the line, so they're playing for him," Zorko said of the Blues, who have a 9-9 win-loss record.

"They're still playing for the eight and we're going to try and shut that out this weekend.

"They're a great midfield, they're elite, they're classy, they're strong everywhere.

"We know the importance of the game for us to finish off the year and take confidence and momentum into next year.

"It's not an easy game, but we won't make it easy for them."

Zorko said the 91-point thrashing at the hands of the Blues at the Gabba in round 2 had been touched on briefly in the build-up to the rematch.

But the Easter Thursday massacre would not be weighing too heavily on the minds of Brisbane players.

"We've put that (loss) behind us to be honest," he said.

"We took a few points out of that, that we have to fix up for this round, and we'll put them into action on Saturday night."

Brisbane star Simon Black trained with the main group at the Gabba yesterday after being relegated to the substitute's role in the 48-point loss to Richmond last Satur-day night.

He is expected to avoid the green vest at the weekend, with his knee injury showing some signs of improvement.

Ratten said the Blues might be forced to roll the dice with several players returning from injury.

The Blues will be without skipper Chris Judd, who has one more week to serve on his four-week suspension.

But Carlton are expected to recall forward Andrew Walker and follower Mitch Robinson after recovering from calf injuries, and could gamble on bringing in ruckman Robert Warnock to free up fellow tall Matthew Kreuzer.

"When you think of the season and where it is at, these selections and any selection you make is about risk versus reward when they are coming back from injury as well," Ratten said.

"Walker will play for sure and Robinson will play and we will make a call on a couple of others."