CARLTON is confident star duo Charlie Curnow and Sam Walsh are both on track to play in at least one practice match, with Blues coach Michael Voss easing any concerns around their potential round one availability.

Curnow was sent for scans after tweaking his right knee during the club's main training session on Saturday, though they revealed no structural damage after a pre-season that has been delayed by ankle and knee surgery.

But the dual Coleman Medal winner completed a significant session on Monday morning, with Carlton officials hopeful Curnow could feature in an AAMI Community Series fixture against Greater Western Sydney on February 28.

"He's fine," Voss told AFL.com.au on Monday.

"It's funny, we send players off for scans all the time. But as soon as Charlie comes off, social media goes crazy. But, no, he had a little bit of a niggle and we obviously wanted to follow through.

"He didn't get through as much as what we wanted to get him through on Saturday, but he's actually been going fine. He had a run around today (Monday) and he's still on target. We're hoping that he might be able to play in our last practice match and get some minutes in that match."

Walsh trained away from Carlton's main group on Saturday, instead doing repeat sprints and laps of Ikon Park with VFL top-ups while his teammates completed match simulation drills.

It follows a hamstring injury sustained midway through January, which was set to sideline the gun midfielder for around a month, though the Blues remain confident he too could get a practice match under his belt before round one.

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"It's the same with 'Walshy'," Voss said.

"At the moment, that's what they're on track for and that hasn't changed. The only reason why 'Walshy' didn't train was because we were playing match practice. We played some match simulation and he's not ready for that.

"He's going at speed now and building all of his strength markers to where he needs to be. If it was a bit more of a drill-based session, he could've done it. But the fact we were actually playing a little bit of match play made it a bit harder for him to be able to achieve that session. He's still well and truly on track."

Walsh could be part of a relatively new-look Carlton midfield for its round one clash with Richmond on March 13, with the club's No.3 pick Jagga Smith now looking a certain starter for his AFL debut.

Smith was among the most impressive performers during Saturday's match simulation drills, with Voss admitting he's been 'wowed' by glimpses of the teenager's potential across the summer.

"He's been really good," Voss said.

"He's hit the ground running. Our first-year boys have been particularly impressive this year. I'd describe them all as 'footy heads'. They love footy. They've all got strong footy pedigrees. You can sit down with them, have lunch and they just want to talk footy. There's not too many of them that are like that, to come through as a group like that.

"Jagga headlines that, obviously, because of where his talent has been seen and how he's arrived at the club. But he's figured prominently and we're giving him every opportunity to do so.

"He provides a different and unique thing for us. But even with that, it still comes with great patience. We've got a player that hasn't even played one game of AFL football yet.

"I'm not going to lie, he's done a couple of things out here where I'm like, 'Wow, how did you do that?' I'm not going to lie about that. That gets you excited about what he can do. But you also know that what he's got to do is a journey. He's not achieving that in one game, five games, 10 games. But, off the back of it, he's going to improve us as a footy team in the future."

Voss said Carlton was keen to trial a number of other young prospects throughout the summer, highlighting father-son duo Ben and Lucas Camporeale and pre-season Supplemental Selection Period (SSP) recruit Matt Carroll as others to impress.

"I think there are a couple of boys that are sitting in the same category (as Smith)," Voss said.

"The Camporeale boys have done very well. It will be harder for them because of the depth that we've got in our midfield. In the back end of last year, we did see some youth come into the team and that added some extra energy and excitement to our group. There are some positions there that we're going to have to look at adding that youth.

"Losing Nic Newman at the back, it's disappointing but then comes opportunity. Lachie Cowan has had a really strong pre-season. You forget he's only in his third year. But he's already improved. It's the same with Ollie Hollands, being able to play back there.

"One name that not many would've heard is Matty Carroll. We've been really excited by what he's done over the pre-season. He trained as an SSP, but he's largely been injured for 12 months and has been working through some groin issues that he's had from his underage years. He's had an exceptional pre-season. I'd like to see a little bit more of him as well. We're going to see an emergence of a few others."

AFL.com.au's full interview with Michael Voss will soon be uploaded to the Your Coach podcast feed. Subscribe now to hear from your club's coach ahead of the 2025 AFL season