CARLTON'S horror injury run continued on Sunday, with the Blues suffering three separate blows that impacted the team "significantly", according to coach Brendon Bolton.
Levi Casboult was a late withdrawal after hurting himself in the warm-up, while Lachie Plowman and Matthew Kreuzer missed more than half of the side's 20-point defeat to Collingwood after both came from the field in the second quarter.
Casboult broke his finger just minutes before the bounce and was replaced in the team by Cameron O'Shea, before Plowman hurt his knee and Kreuzer injured his ankle.
It left Carlton with just two players on the bench for the majority of the match, with Bolton lamenting the fact that the three injuries occurred to players crucial to the team's spine.
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"It impacted us significantly," the Blues coach said after the game.
"Whenever you lose players in your spine, you've got to adjust. But to their credit, they dug really deep considering that adversity.
"With no rotations, they dug in. It's hard to win a game losing one rotation, let alone three."
Plowman's leg looked to buckle awkwardly as he landed from a marking contest midway through the second quarter, with a stretcher required to cart him from the field.
The 23-year-old attempted to walk from the ground with the assistance of medics, but couldn't put any weight on his right leg and eventually called for the stretcher.
Lachie Plowman was taken off the ground on a cart after injuring his right leg.
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The Blues were quick to rule out ACL damage, but still expect the defender to spend a stint on the sidelines.
"There's some bone bruising and potential ligament damage," Bolton said.
"We'll just have to wait and see, get it scanned and we'll be able to be definitive. But you would think he'd miss weeks. I'm not sure how many, though."
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Kreuzer also left the field in the second term, having injured his ankle. Although he returned briefly, he wasn't spotted after half time.
The injury forced defender Sam Rowe into the ruck for the entire second half, with Kreuzer unlikely to be fit to take on Port Adelaide next weekend.
"Kreuzer rolled his ankle, so we'll have to get that scanned and check ligament damage," Bolton said.
"When players don't complete games, it's not usually a great sign for the following week. But we'll never say never."
The Blues had already lost Casboult prior to the game, with the forward dislocating his finger in the warm-ups and replaced by O'Shea.
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"He dislocated his finger, but there was some opening of the skin," Bolton said.
"That's not a great start. But they dug in and I was pretty pleased with them."
O'Shea was in the stands when he found out he would be playing in the match and wasn't spotted on the bench until the ninth minute of the game.
However, Bolton said he didn't have an issue with the length of time it took for the defender to enter the field of play.
"I didn't even look," he said.
"It was a late injury in the last second or two. He was out there pretty quick, so the job was done."