Injured midfielder Dale Thomas is still optimistic about Carlton’s season, even though the Blues are still striving for their first win.

Speaking to Triple M before the match on Saturday, ‘Daisy’ emphasised it’s all about the four-quarter performance.

“The first quarters we’ve played in the first and second round have been outstanding … and if we can bring that effort for four quarters we’d be very hard to beat each week,” he said.

Even though the results of the first three weeks haven’t gone Carlton’s way, Daisy believes the club is better placed than at the end of last year.

“The way we’ve attacked the pre-season and the way we’re moving the footy compared to what I saw when I first rolled up a year ago ... I’m very optimistic,” he said.

During the week, captain Marc Murphy asked the players to stand up and look at their individual performances.

“Murph putting the blow torch on the players to some degree was warranted,” Thomas said.

This week Carlton hopes to record its first win of the season against the Saints in New Zealand, unfortunately without Thomas, who has an injured shoulder.

But Daisy says he’s on the mend and will be back soon.

“The way it fell out it didn’t do too much damage … you can tear a lot of things on the way out and then you need the surgery to repair it.

“I was fortunate it just popped out and didn’t take too much with it,” he said.