CARLTON is sweating on yet another injury concern for a key player after Jacob Weitering took a heavy knock to his leg and was subbed out in the Blues' 52-point defeat to Sydney on Friday night.
Weitering copped a blow just above the right knee when jumping into the back of teammate Nic Newman in a marking contest in the opening term as the Blues made a scintillating start against the Swans.
The key defender returned to the field with his leg heavily strapped but was restricted in his movement and eventually pulled from the game at the main break.
SWANS v BLUES Full match coverage and stats
"He's got a corky. With all these, it's just really about how bad it is, so it's a bit of a wait and see," Blues coach Michael Voss said.
"In terms of how significant it is, it's a corky, but you're never too sure what the actual damage is until maybe 48 hours later."
The Blues were leading 4.3 to 0.1 when Weitering hurt his leg, but the Swans slammed on 14 of the next 16 goals to clinch a victory that takes them two wins clear at the top of the ladder.
But Voss refused to blame the loss of Weitering or the Blues' lengthy injury list for their crushing defeat at the SCG.
Adam Saad and Jesse Motlop are expected to return next week and reduce Carlton’s injury woes.
"No, not going there, mate, not going there," Voss said when asked whether injuries could be used as an excuse for the Blues’ performance against the Swans.
"We had a team out there that could get the job done. We've had some continuity with some important pieces with the guys out there. It presents some challenges but it's not insurmountable.
"We could have got that job done and we didn't, so I don't want to go anywhere else."
Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney did the damage for the hosts with powerful performances that continued their sizzling stretch of form.
The potent pair booted three goals each against the Blues and now have a combined 31 for the season to be the second (Heeney) and third (Warner) highest-scoring midfielders.
The Swans had too many options in the midfield as the Blues missed Adam Cerra due to a hamstring injury, while Sam Walsh’s impact was limited by the close-checking of James Jordon.
"He (Warner) was just really damaging, and he was able to break the lines and get out of traffic so quickly," Swans coach John Longmire said.
"He goes from inside to outside really fast, his ability to be able to do that was significant."
“(Jordon) has come into our club and into our team, we can put him in a number of different roles and he just goes about his business. Does his homework and importantly goes out and executes.”
The Swans will face their own injury worries with the versatile Robbie Fox injuring an AC joint and subbed out in the third term.
