CARLTON utility Andrew Walker remains in contention to play against the Western Bulldogs on Sunday after coach Brett Ratten dispelled fears he had suffered another serious shoulder injury against the Sydney Swans last week.

“Walks should be right; he just had deep bruising in his shoulder,” Ratten said from Princes Park on Wednesday.

“It was so deep, that’s what caused the problem. He’s already had two operations this year on his shoulder and maybe to have a third after his first game back … I think he was sort of thinking ‘I wonder what it is?’ and you do worry about those things as a player.”

Walker, 22, was playing in his first game of the season after shoulder injuries ruined his preparation and he appeared despondent on the bench after leaving the match following a solid bump on his ‘good’ shoulder.

“It was precautionary because they couldn’t tell exactly where it was, so if we put him out there and something did go wrong it would be very hard for the kid mentally to overcome that,” Ratten explained.

The coach foreshadowed youngsters Mark Austin and Adam Hartlett would be likely to keep their spots when the Blues take on the Bulldogs.

Ruckman Matthew Kreuzer will also front up against the Dogs despite starting to show signs of wear and tear in his first AFL season.

“We’ll keep going with Matty a little bit longer. I suppose it all depends on the growth of players underneath,” he said.

“Shaun Hampson’s been going okay, but we need him to play a little bit better at Bullants level before we can consider him. Cain Ackland was injured last week and didn’t play at Bullants level, so we’ve sort of just got the two ruckmen at the moment.”