BACK-IN-FORM Melbourne forward Tom McDonald will undergo scans to reveal the extent of the damage to his left knee after Sunday's dramatic five-point win over Carlton.

Coach Simon Goodwin said McDonald had likely injured his meniscus and was hopeful it wasn't serious after watching the star Demon boot six goals before three-quarter time.

McDonald sat out the final term as the Blues charged over the top of a Melbourne line-up with just one fit player on the bench before a late Jayden Hunt goal ensured a red and blue triumph.

Steven May comforts Tom McDonald as they walk down the race. Picture: AFL Photos

"He was obviously outstanding in the game, but it looks like a meniscus in his knee, so we'll get that scanned," Goodwin told reporters.

"He was terrific today, so it's disappointing for us, but hopefully the scan will come back and it's not too bad, but we'll have to wait and see on that one."

A sore McDonald will now undergo scans on Monday and the key forward is hoping to receive some good news.

"It's not too serious I don't think, but it's frustrating because I think I'll probably miss a couple of weeks at least," McDonald told melbournefc.com.au.

"We won't know until we get some scans tomorrow, but I just had a bit of a clunk in it and I feel like maybe chipped a bit of bone off or maybe a little tear in the meniscus.

"Fingers crossed, we think we've dodged some bad damage, but we don't know yet."

The Demons lost Marty Hore (broken collarbone) in the opening term, then fellow defender Harry Petty (concussion) and McDonald went down in a high-scoring third quarter.

DEES HOLD OUT BLUES Full match coverage and stats

They came after star ruckman Max Gawn failed to sufficiently recover from last week's ankle injury and was a late withdrawal.

Goodwin and his coaching stuff were severely hamstrung because of all that, using only 67 of a possible 90 rotations for the day – only nine of which came in the last term.

Melbourne held a game-high 38-point advantage late in the third quarter, but six unanswered Blues majors saw them snatch a one-point lead beyond 27 minutes in the final term.

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A Kade Simpson turnover to Demon Clayton Oliver paved the way for the 2018 All Australian to set up Hunt for the match-winner from about 45m out.

"It's great for Jayden and great for the team," Goodwin said of that moment.

"We've had some problems with our goalkicking at times this year, but for him to kick 3.0 in the second half – that's a big step forward.

WATCH Simon Goodwin's full post-match press conference

"To kick a goal like that under pressure when the team needed it, with a minute-and-a-half to go, was sensational."

Goodwin was at pains not to take credit away from Carlton, but he said the injury toll proved tough to overcome.

The coach praised some "unbelievable physical efforts" from his players in the fourth quarter and admitted the limited rotations placed "a lot of strain" on his side.

WATCH The last two minutes

"We always knew Carlton were a really good running side and they were going to come late, with the rotations we had, so full credit to them," he said.

"They started to win it at the source around clearance in the last quarter.

"But to be down in the last quarter then to just find a way; there was a lot of calmness on the field and a lot of clarity about what they needed to do, and they executed it, so I'm really proud of the guys."

Gawn's ruck replacement, Braydon Preuss, amassed 44 hitouts (19 to advantage), 14 disposals and five marks to fill in admirably.

Goodwin said Melbourne would ideally like to be able to regularly play Gawn and Preuss in the same side in the future.

Gawn is likely to return for next week's game against the in-form Western Bulldogs, as is defender Jake Lever (knee), who resumed strongly in the VFL on Saturday.

Another backman, Neville Jetta (knee), also played two-and-a-half quarters for Casey in that same game but isn't as advanced as that pair.

The other good news for Goodwin was his belief the Demons were starting to resemble the "style of footy" that took them to a preliminary final last year.

"We've had a little bit of a reset at the midway (including coaching role changes), and the guys have done some amazing training in the last period of time, so we're starting to see the rewards off of that," he said.

"Last week (against Brisbane), there were some areas of the game – our strengths let us down, and we were pretty reckless with the ball.

"But two out of the last three weeks, I'm starting to see some big improvements in just consistency of how we play in all three phases, and I think our supporters would have liked a lot of what they saw in our first three quarters, as I did, and our coaches did.

"As a club, we've had some challenges … but I think we're starting to push through it, and I can see some pretty strong footy for us in the back half of the year."