> Watch Steele Sidebottom speak to CTV in the Lexus Centre after the loss to Carlton> Watch Mick Malthouse address the media after the lossCOLLINGWOOD coach Mick Malthouse believed his depleted side was capable of beating Carlton until late in the fourth term of Sunday's game.
And he says they can still be competitive in coming weeks despite a decimated forward line.
The Magpies were without Travis Cloke, Anthony Rocca, Dale Thomas and Alan Didak on Sunday, with Paul Medhurst joining them in the stands after withdrawing at the last moment.
Malthouse remains confident the Pies can still compete without their blue-chip forwards, despite the 51-point drubbing the Blues handed them.
"You're dealt a hand, you play that hand," he said on Sunday night at the MCG.
"I didn't think we were out of the game at any stage until the last five minutes.
"Obviously, that's the coach's perception. We were getting enough football but not enough clean football and we weren't getting the ball in a clean manner forward.
"We played a good side that were better than us and they got away to a very good start and we didn't really put enough pressure on them in the first quarter.
"From there on in, we were on a bit of a back foot but at least they battled it out.
"They tried their guts out and on the scoreboard it didn't show because we got outscored every quarter but I don't think it was through lack of effort."
Malthouse said the Magpies lost the game despite winning the forward entries 45 to 41 because they were "slow" with their approach inside 50.
"Sometimes that's got to do with the way we moved it because we just didn't have the confidence to run it, and when we did, we looked okay but that was infrequent," he said.
He also said he would persevere with young players throughout the season, despite inconsistent performances.
"We'll persist with [Dayne] Beams, [Steele] Sidebottom … will they play next week? That's another thing, I don't know how many are coming back," he said.
"Ben Reid has been played on the backline the last 12 months but I don't think he disappointed.
"Cameron Wood got his chance, Sharrod Wellingham got his chance, Ryan Cook got his chance.
"The game is a game of attrition, and we've lost a lot of players but we were still able to field 22 and we'll continue to field the best 22 that we can."
He praised the performance of backman Simon Prestigiacomo, who rendered Brendan Fevola scoreless, and defended the form of recycled recruit Leigh Brown.
"Brown has been fantastic for us. He's a competitor, he helps out in the ruck, he can go forward if we lose our forwards and he can go back if we lose our backs," he said.
"I don't like individualising but Prestigiacomo was terrific."
