Carlton coach Brett Ratten was left to lament his side’s skill errors in the wake of the Blues' 40-point loss to St Kilda at the Telstra Dome.

After jumping to a four-goal lead early in the match the Blues were overpowered by the Saints, who dominated the game when it was there to be won in the second and third quarters.

Ratten said his side became its own worst enemy.

“At the end of the day you need to kick the ball pretty well in this game otherwise teams counter attack quickly,” Ratten said.

“If you make a lot of skill errors by foot going into your front half then you pay the price at the other end of the ground and we did as a group tonight.”

Despite having one more inside 50 than the Saints, the Blues were outscored 19 goals to five in the period from late in the first term to late in the final quarter. Only three late goals added some respectability to a lop-sided contest.

“At the end of the day we had 12 inside 50s to their 15 in the third term – they score 4.2 and we score four points,” Ratten said.

“Our efficiency going into our forward 50 was a problem.”

The Carlton coach said he was much happier with the effort displayed by his players against the Saints than the one produced by the Blues in their season-opening lost to Richmond.

He was also thrilled the performances of Marc Murphy (23 possessions) and Bryce Gibbs (26) while giving special mention to defenders Bret Thornton and Jarrad Waite.

Thornton kept Saint giant Justin Koschitzke goalless while Waite had by far the better of Nick Riewoldt who kicked both of his goals in the final term when the game was effectively over.

“To keep Koschitzke goalless and win the ball for us I thought he was nearly our best player,” he said of Thornton’s 22-possession game.

He said given the lack of impact of the Saint duo it was easy to presume the side should have been right in the game.

“St Kilda usually mark the ball inside their front 50 and at half time they had only four inside 50 marks for the half. At the end of the day they had 16 and usually most teams that get over 15 win the game, and they won the game,” Ratten said.

“At the end of the day I would have said we would have been right up to our necks in this game but in the end we still lose by seven goals, so it was a little bit disappointing from that aspect,” he said.

In some good news for Carlton fans Ratten said last year’s No. 1 draft pick Matthew Kreuzer would make his debut next week against Essendon.

Defender Michael Jamison, a late withdrawal with general soreness, is also set to feature barring any mishaps this week.