CARLTON midfielder Nick Stevens is set to return to the Blues' line-up this Friday night against North Melbourne.

The onballer has spent the last four weeks in the VFL after incurring the wrath of Brett Ratten for returning from the mid-season break out of shape.

The coach indicated on Wednesday that Stevens had done enough to be right in the mix to take on the Kangaroos.

"Stevens will be very close to being in the team. I'd say [the odds] would be in his favour to come back this week," Ratten said from Visy Park.

"He's gone back and worked fairly hard on his game and tried to get some of that run back, which we saw last week. He copped a big hit early at Windy Hill and really responded fantastically after it.

"I think it's all about what the player has to do to play at senior level and Nick has worked hard at that. Last week he had a good performance so we'll assess that as a match committee this afternoon.

"Last week he was in the mix, but this week he's put a big case forward to be selected."

Stevens, 29, has come in for some criticism for allowing his fitness to suffer over the mid-year break, but Ratten said all players, young and old, faced tough challenges at one point or another throughout their careers.

Ratten said Stevens had been down in confidence, resulting in his decision-making and running suffering.

"Sometimes you can be criticised heavily for losses as a team, or individuals can be targeted if you're losing games or if you've lost a game through a poor performance," Ratten said.

"We just thought he needed to go back [to the VFL]. The balance in his game is right up again, which is exactly what we're after."

The Blues will need to make at least two changes to the side heavily defeated by Collingwood last Friday, with Chris Johnson out with a hamstring strain, and Adam Hartlett injuring a hand at a training session earlier on Sunday.

Michael Jamison, Setanta O'hAilpin, Andrew Walker, Mitch Robinson, Cameron Cloke and Richard Hadley are the leading contenders to come back into the side.

Ratten faces a tricky match committee meeting and admitted there would be much debate on whether to bring back Walker, who starred in his second VFL game last week following an extended period sidelined with a shoulder injury.