Malthouse said on Wednesday the Blues' seven-point loss to the Lions last Saturday was a "blow" to their efforts to get their season back on track, but not "a knockout punch".

After losing their first four games of 2013, the Blues had won four of their last five games leading into the Lions clash.

A win would have left them just one game outside the top eight, but the Blues could not capitalise after kicking out to a 16-point lead early in the last quarter. 

The loss consigned Carlton to 12th on the ladder with a lowly percentage of 87.34.

The Blues' quest for a finals berth only gets more difficult, as they face top-four contenders Geelong, Hawthorn and Collingwood over the next month.

But Malthouse refused to look beyond this Friday night's clash against Geelong, saying the Blues' 4-6 record meant that every game shaped their season.

The coach also made it clear he was not about to raise the "white flag" at the selection table, saying it would be "ludicrous" to blood any youngsters who weren't ready to play. 

"I'm not here to hand out games," Malthouse said.

"We are two games out of the eight. (If) any of my teams ever fly a white flag it's a very good indicator that the playing group aren't listening to me.

"There will be no white flag here. We will be picking our best side to win on a week-to-week basis.  

"That inevitably exposes some players to senior football because we think they're ready.

"Whoever gets this notion to play all kids and drop senior players has never coached."

Malthouse said most of Carlton's untried youngsters were not ready to play at AFL level, while its first pick in last year's national draft, Patrick Cripps, was still recovering from a broken leg.

Malthouse said playing a youngster before he was ready could "destroy that kid and take him a long time to recover".

But the three-time premiership coach does not doubt the talent the Blues have assembled in recent drafts.

"We are a very young reserves side, (I'm) not saying that they can't play, but they are a very young side and in some instances their bodies aren't ready for AFL football," Malthouse said.

Former Blues skipper Chris Judd trained well on Wednesday morning as he edges closer to a return from the strained hamstring he suffered in round five against the Western Bulldogs.

Malthouse said Judd would have to prove he was capable of playing "a fair percentage of game time" to be selected against the Cats.

If Judd can't do that, Malthouse said he would either have another week of training or play 50-70 per cent of game time in the VFL this weekend.

Malthouse is contracted at Carlton to the end of 2015 and said there had been no discussions about extending his tenure.

But he said that was to be expected when he was not even halfway through his existing three-year contract.

Malthouse said he was completely comfortable with his contract status, having coached on one-year deals for most of his 30-year career.

"I've never panicked about it and I'm not about to now," he said.