CARLTON will be without star goalkicker Harry McKay for Friday night's crucial clash against the Western Bulldogs, with the key forward's short-term future unclear due to personal reasons.
McKay spent several days away from the club earlier this week, having also missed last Thursday night's defeat to Hawthorn, with the Blues saying the former Coleman Medal winner's "wellbeing remains a focus as he continues to work through a personal matter".
The Carlton spearhead returned to training at Ikon Park on Wednesday, but will be unavailable for selection this weekend, with the club providing McKay with "appropriate support" as it works through his return to play timeline.
However, the Blues are yet to put a timeframe on when McKay will be back in action, saying a decision on his availability for a round four blockbuster with Collingwood will be made next week.
"He's doing OK," Carlton coach Michael Voss said on Thursday.
"Obviously, he was dealing with a few things during the week. He took some time away from the club, but obviously we felt it best that he doesn't play this week. We'll give him the space he needs to be able to work through a few things and not necessarily put a timeframe on him, but hopefully he'll be back soon.
"He's back at the club, he came back Wednesday. He needed a few days away and used the opportunity to create a little bit of space. Obviously, now we respect his privacy and us as a team we get on with things."
Carlton will look to respond from an 0-2 start to the season when it takes on the Bulldogs on Friday night, with Voss stressing that the club will always prioritise the health and wellbeing of its players ahead of performances on the field.
"It's always player over performance, in terms of just being able to look after the person first. That's the position we've taken, so (McKay) will get the support that he needs," Voss said.
"As a footy club, clearly we wrap our arms around him as I hope the whole football industry does. We'll give him the time that he needs, then we'll obviously focus on the football. That's essentially what we do every single week.
"There's a point in time in the week where it's about what we need to go and do next, and obviously we're at that point."
Carlton's fellow Coleman Medal winner Charlie Curnow looked rusty in his first appearance of the year last week following off-season ankle and knee surgery, finishing scoreless with just five disposals to his name.
He was supported in attack by Jack Silvagni, despite summer plans to deploy him in defence, as well as Brodie Kemp, who has continued in his relatively newfound role as a forward option to start the season.
Voss said the Blues would continue to balance Silvagni's positional stability with the team's needs when it decides where he will line up against the Bulldogs on Friday night.
"One piece is not too big a piece when you're talking about overall stability, but it's certainly a consideration for either," Voss said.
"We'll just weigh that up. Whether he plays back and we can throw him forward, that's a possibility. We've tried to add that flexibility, as we have with Kemp being able to play forward and also go back.
"We've added a couple of those parts of our game, in terms of positional moves that we can make if we need to during the game. But also, we want to have a reliability in the way we turn up and how we show up and how we compete as a football team.
"I'm pretty comfortable that we've had a couple of weeks where we've been able to do that for the majority of the time. We have to be able to make sure that we can do that consistently, certainly within this game."
