WITH two wins on the trot and his team in the top eight Carlton coach Brett Ratten is battling complacency for the first time as he prepares his side to take on Essendon on Sunday.

With his young squad high on self-belief following two come-from-behind wins, Ratten admitted there was a danger his players could get ahead of themselves.

“I think that’s a big challenge for every coach. Does complacency set in as a group? And that is our challenge; to make sure that our boys are switched on and focused,” Ratten said from Princes Park on Wednesday.

“Why have we got ourselves into the eight? It’s because we’ve done certain things and [added] certain aspects into our game, but as quick as we got into the eight is as quick as we can fall out too if we don’t come and play the way that we need to play.”

Ratten feels the Blues owe the Bombers one after they inflicted a 16-point defeat back in round three and highlighted Scott Lucas, Matthew Lloyd and Adam McPhee as the keys to a forward line that will be difficult to stifle.

The coach was disappointed with the uneven contribution he received from his players in that game, but he believes a lot has changed since then.

“I think we’re getting an even spread across the board … where last time we had six outstanding players and then we got virtually nothing from the rest of the group,” he said.

“When you looked at Essendon’s performance Mark McVeigh played very well, but they had an even spread across the board with everyone chiming in.

“That was our challenge to fix that and I think we have to a degree, but I think the way that we played against Essendon and the manner that we went about it was very disappointing.”

Brendan Fevola continued his stellar season with eight goals against Collingwood last week and while Ratten was pleased with his form he could offer no insight into the spearhead’s contract negotiations other than that they were progressing.

“Whether it’s this week, next week or in a month’s time I’ve got no idea, but I know it’s a step closer because when you meet management you become closer because you thrash out some issues. I’d say it’s getting closer, but how far, I’ve got no idea,” he said.

“To be honest … what I’ve said to Steven Icke and Greg Swann is that I don’t need to hear what’s going on with the contracts. Tell me if they’re going to be done or tell me if they’ve stalled big time, but I don’t need to hear all the in-betweens.