INJURED stars Bryce Gibbs and Chris Judd have been ruled out of Carlton's first game under interim coach John Barker on Friday night, with Gibbs likely to miss two weeks with a back injury.

However, Carlton football manager Andrew McKay told the club's website on Wednesday that spearhead Lachie Henderson (hamstring) and Andrew Walker (knee) should return against the Sydney Swans this Friday night after missing the past three and two rounds respectively.

Gibbs was substituted out of the Blues' loss to Geelong last Friday night in the third quarter after suffering a back spasm, while Judd finished the game but had been battling knee soreness for several weeks.

"Chris has got some knee soreness, it's been lingering for a couple of weeks but certainly (it's) nothing major," McKay said.

"He just needs a little bit of time to recover from that soreness and he'll be back the following week (against Adelaide).

"Bryce Gibbs fell awkwardly in our last game and hurt his back, which has tightened up all the muscles in his back and he's still very stiff and sore.

"He'll certainly be out this week and (is) likely to be out the following week."

McKay said ruckman Matthew Kreuzer should return this week after missing last round with calf soreness.

But the Blues football boss said Kreuzer, who has played two games in the VFL since returning from a foot injury, was likely to again play for the Northern Blues.

"He seems OK early this week, we'll have to test him tomorrow morning (but) I'm pretty confident he'll play football at one grade or another this weekend," McKay said.

"The more likely scenario is that Matthew will play for the Northern Blues given that he's only played a couple of games and had one game off, just to get some more match fitness."