With his team two games behind eight-placed Port Adelaide after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Essendon, Murphy says the Blues' clash with the Power at AAMI Stadium on Saturday is a "must-win" encounter regardless, to repay supporters they have let down.
The AFL Commission meets on Monday and is expected to remove the Bombers' points as part of sanctions over their controversial 2012 supplements program.
In that event, Carlton would retain ninth spot and make the finals by default if it defeats the Power.
The Blues could also play finals even if it loses, providing Brisbane Lions lose to Geelong, North Melbourne loses to Collingwood, and Adelaide doesn’t bridge a significant percentage gap against West Coast.
"We can’t really worry or think too far ahead," Murphy told reporters at Visy Park on Monday morning.
"We've just got to look at the vision from on the weekend and learn what we can do better going forward.
"In terms of what's happening at AFL House, it's obviously out of our control … We can’t really speculate with what's going to happen this week with Essendon, so we just want to put in a good performance against a good side in Port, as much for ourselves as for our supporters and members."
Murphy said the Blues were likely to regain Matthew Kreuzer (calf) and Andrew Walker (illness) – both of whom were late withdrawals against Essendon – but would be without Brock McLean and possibly Heath Scotland with right quad problems.
Although he and his team have performed below expectations this season, Murphy said he had enjoyed his first season as captain after replacing Chris Judd.
Murphy had a limited pre-season after undergoing a minor knee operation, and the ongoing issue has hampered his performance this season. He said it was likely he would receive more surgery at season's end to enable him to start next pre-season earlier.
More to come ...
Twitter: @AFL_BenCollins
