Superstar forward Harry McKay a chance to miss Carlton’s next game

Carlton suffered its second defeat of the season on Saturday night and may have to bounce back without Coleman Medallist Harry McKay.

When Carlton has been at its best this season, it has been able to heap pressure on its opposition across the ground.

The Blues’ ability to keep the ball in their forward line and find ways to score has allowed them to kick away to matchwinning leads.

But on Saturday night, coach Michael Voss admitted it was Fremantle that was able to find goals when the game was in a bit of an arm-wrestle.

And he said his star-studded midfield lowered its colours due to the pressure piled on by the Dockers, who won by 35 points.

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After a promising start to the season, the Blues are now hanging onto their place in the top eight. They face a challenge against North Melbourne next weekend, with key forward Harry McKay and ruckman Marc Pittonet a chance to be sidelined.

“We had periods in each quarter (against the Dockers) we could get the game in our favour and a lot of times the game was in an arm-wrestle,” Voss said.

“We couldn’t keep the ball in our half long enough to build pressure. And when it was our turn to defend, when we needed to and hold on, they were able to find a goal.”

The Dockers had Carlton’s measure on Saturday night. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

The result came despite the top five possession-winners on the ground all wearing Carlton jumpers.

Sam Walsh topped the list with 36 touches, and between him, Adam Cerra, Patrick Cripps, Sam Docherty and George Hewitt, they had 162 possessions.

Andrew Brayshaw and Will Brodie led Dockers ball winners with 27 touches apiece.

The Blues led in contested possessions for most of the night before the Dockers upped the ante and almost finished square in that area.

Carlton won the centre clearances and clearances around the ground, even with Pittonet off the ground injured from the eight-minute mark of the opening term.

But Carlton managed only 38 entries into its attacking 50m area, when it is averaging almost 55 entries a game this season.

That provided little chance for Charlie Curnow and McKay to impact in the game.

Curnow booted two goals, while McKay kicked one and copped a knock in the first term and was clearly impacted. He had just three possessions for the game and didn’t take a mark.

McKay and Pittonet will need scans this week, but must be in doubt for the Blues clash against the Kangaroos.

McKay kicked more goals than any other player last season. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“McKay had a grumble. We’ll have a look at that,” Voss said.

“I am not sure what that is. It was certainly affecting some of his movement and his ability to get up and down the ground.

“He finished the game; we’ll assess it. He got through and we hope whatever is affecting him is quite minor.

“We’ll get Pitto assessed on Monday, but we feel it’s a significant corky at this stage.

“We tried to get him going but he wasn’t able to run. It’s on the front of his knee, so he wasn’t able to get going.

“We are really hoping we have dodged further damage there.

“Pitto is an important person for us and gives our mids a good look. When Tom (de Koning) was in the ruck he was competing really well against a really good ruckman (Sean Darcy), but we had to find other ways to fill that.”

There could be some good news for the Blues this week though, with Adam Kennedy and Jack Silvagni both likely to return to face North.

Originally published as Superstar forward Harry McKay a chance to miss Carlton’s next game