CARLTON coach Brendon Bolton has urged his players to use their disappointing finish to 2016 as motivation to drive them over the pre-season.

Under the tutelage of Bolton, the Blues have surprised many, finishing the year with seven wins, three more than last season.

Six of those seven wins came in the first half of the season with the highlight a victory over top-four side Geelong.

But after showing so much promise in the early stages of the year, the Blues dropped away dramatically, winning just one of their last 11 games.

Five talking points: Essendon v Carlton

Instead of finishing the season on a high against arch-rival Essendon, the Blues petered out, with a lackluster performance that was not a true reflection of their development under Bolton this year.

The coach's message to his players after the loss was simple.

"Use that performance to drive you over the pre-season," Bolton told his charges.

"We know as a club we've got a lot of growth and development ahead of us, so use that to grow. Don’t look at that game in your reflection of the year on it's own, look at the growth from the whole year.

"I would have thought we'd have some disappointed members and supporters, coaches, players and administrators. But understand one thing, that performance will really help steel and drive us over the pre-season to work incredibly hard.

"We've got a lot of work still in front of us, we called it a journey and it will drive us."

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The Blues found themselves 47 points down at three-quarter time but finished strongly, kicking four goals to Essendon's one.

Bolton's men finished the game with 61 inside 50s, 16 more than the Bombers, and won the contested possession count but just couldn't convert that to scoreboard pressure.

The coach conceded his side lacked an "appetite to defend" early and it cost them.

Defensively though, Carlton has been a much improved side in 2016.

Last year the Blues conceded 100 points or more in 13 games, this year that was reduced to seven.

On average Carlton is leaking 90 points per game in 2016, 17 fewer than last year.

WATCH: Brendon Bolton's full post-match press conference

Bolton said he was proud of the improvements and growth the playing group had made this year, but insisted there was still plenty of work to be done ahead of next season.

"I think the highlight [of the season] is more about the synergy of the players working together and not as individuals anymore. Understanding there are things you can do to help someone else, that mindset change is something we’ve been proud of.

"We've got an incredible amount of hard work ahead of us, but there were some really strong foundations laid this year for us to continue to grow."

Bolton will now look ahead to the trade period as the Blues ready their list for next season with several players still un-signed for 2017.

Forward Levi Casboult, and defenders Zach Tuohy and Sam Rowe are still yet to officially sign new deals, while Bolton said the club was keen to improve the depth of their list across all areas of the ground.