Another significant challenge awaits Carlton this week, with Round 20 pitting the Blues against a finals-hungry Essendon on football’s biggest stage.

The match will see the Blues lace up for the final time at the MCG this year, with the side hoping to turn its string of losses around against an Essendon outfit which will be eager to make amends after a 30-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in Round 19. 

After claiming a 15-point victory against the arch-rivals in Round 3, the Blues will head into Saturday’s clash looking to do the double over the Bombers for the first time since 2001.

On the eve of the clash, Carlton coach Brendon Bolton said the “traditional” match against “traditional rivals” served as another learning opportunity for his young brigade.

“There’s close to 250 games of rivalry there, so that’s significant in itself,” Bolton told the media on Friday. 

“Being able to play on the MCG, on a Saturday afternoon, in a traditional timeslot – I reckon a lot of our youngsters, before they got drafted, would have dreamt of that opportunity.

“It’s going to be a fantastic game for our kids to experience.”

On soaked turf at the MCG in April, Bolton’s charges withstood a strong Essendon outfit to celebrate their first win for the season and hand the Bombers their first loss.

During that low-scoring affair, a relentless Carlton defence stood tall among a daunting Essendon attack to keep tall forwards Joe Daniher and Cale Hooker to just one goal each, and energetic smalls Orazio Fantasia, Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Travis Colyer to a goal between them. 

With Daniher leading the race for the Coleman Medal after a six-goal haul last week, and Hooker and Fantasia also ranked inside the league’s top 20 goalkickers, the Blues will need to be prepared for the fleet of forwards to be on this time around.

On approach to the clash, opposition coach John Worsfold was wary of the Blues’ backs and said this week’s “critical” game against a defensively strong Carlton would be a great test for his side.

"They’ve (Blues) talked openly about building their defence first. They’ve been very strong in that,” Worsfold said.  

“It will be a great opportunity and great challenge for us to score against a team with that focus.

“This is an important game… one we’re really looking forward to.”

Second only to Adelaide for goals per inside 50, it’s no surprise the team from Windy Hill has stretched its scoreline to 100 points or more on 10 occasions across the season.

While Carlton has struggled in this area, it can line up with confidence, having won two of its past three matches against Essendon with 10 or less goals on the scoreboard.

For the Round 20 clash, the Blues have called on speedsters Dennis Armfield, Billie Smedts, Blaine Boekhorst and Jarrod Pickett to replace injured trio Simon White (knee), David Cuningham (ankle) and Harry McKay (turf toe) as well as young defender Tom Williamson, who has succumbed to illness.

Meanwhile, the Bombers have made three changes to their final 22, with defender Patrick Ambrose to make his return after back-to-back quad injuries, forward Josh Green to return after missing the past two rounds with a hamstring injury, and Ben Howlett recalled for his sixth senior game this season. The trio have replaced James Kelly (rested), Andrew McGrath (rested) and Jayden Laverde (omitted).

Carlton and Essendon will write the next chapter in their long-standing rivalry when the two sides go to battle at the traditional 2:10pm timeslot on Saturday afternoon.