MIDFIELDER Tom Bell says the Carlton players haven't been affected by the Blues' public rebuilding stance, and has called on them to remain united as they face another difficult week.
Coach Mick Malthouse said on Thursday the fact the Blues were so open about rebuilding was a "big hurdle to overcome mentally' for the players.
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He echoed those sentiments after the Blues' 77-point loss to Geelong on Friday night and said the "group themselves have felt the pinch", despite the rebuild being "what needs to happen".
But Bell said the concept wasn't something he felt had been distracting.
"I don't think it has. We've got trust in the players we've got," Bell told AFL.com.au after the loss to the Cats.
"We've got a great side, we've got amazing young players coming through as you've seen from Patrick Cripps, who won the Rising Star [nomination] a few weeks ago and Dylan Buckley, young guys like that,"
"We're not even buying into that. We've just got to stay together as a group."
Bell also said speculation surrounding Malthouse's future and the coach’s relationship with the club's senior management didn’t concern the players.
He said unity would be the biggest focus for the club this week as it looked to arrest its worst start to a season since 2002. The Blues have the daunting task of playing the Swans next Friday night in Sydney.
"To be honest, the boys don't look into it. A lot of boys don't even look at the papers," he said.
"I don't think it's distracted us at all.
"It was a disappointing loss but pretty much all we discussed is we have to stay united as a team.
"We've got a seven day turnaround and Sydney are a great side so we've just got to stay together and tough it out.
"It's obviously going to be a tough week but we'll regroup as a group and go from there."
Malthouse softened his stance after Friday night's game and said he was "totally aligned" to the club's direction.
“It (a rebuild) is exactly what I think needs to happen and it's exactly on the same line as the football club.
"The playing group themselves has felt with the pinch, and it's not an ill-defined thing by the football club to come and compound the player group.
"It's just that the end result is the playing group haven't responded to it."
