A FRUSTRATED Carlton coach Brendon Bolton conceded he would probably endure a sleepless night after the Blues went down to the Hawks by five-points.
Bolton's state of mind wasn't helped by the prospect that he could be without defensive architects Kade Simpson and Nic Newman for the clash with North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Simpson appears certain to be sidelined after suffering a hamstring injury and sitting out the second half. Bolton said medical scans would reveal the extent of the damage.
"(He's a) big out but I'm sure he'll look after it and be back as soon as he can," the Blues coach told reporters post-match.
The outlook appears more positive for Newman, who sustained a jarred knee after making heavy contact with the ground in the last quarter.
"Again, I'm not sure to what extent it is, but hopefully (he will be) OK," Bolton said.
Carlton could hardly have played better football in the first half when it stormed to a 36-point lead early in the second term.
"We won the clearances (overall) 51 to 37 – it's a pretty good number from our group. We got the Hawthorn defenders running backwards at times and we completed plays. There was lots to like in the first half but we've got to do (it) for longer," Bolton said.
Hawthorn flicked the switch after half-time, piling on 10 of the next 13 goals to lead by 17 points with seven minutes remaining. The Blues kicked the next two goals before Zac Fisher hit the post with a snap that could have levelled the scores with just 48 seconds left.
Bolton said his team had been too slow to adjust in the third term when the Hawks got their uncontested marking game going, allowing them too many intercept marks in the Blues' forward area, while injuries to Simpson and Newman released the shackles on opportunists such as Luke Breust and Chad Wingard, who bagged five second-half goals between them.
"I'm really proud how they played the scenario out to fight on in the end, but (I'm) not at all satisfied," he said.
"Our guys left nothing in the tank but I don't want the conversation (to be), 'Oh, we lost some soldiers and they all fought hard. It was an honourable loss'. Games require that.
"It's a game of inches, it's a game of quarters, it's a game of seconds, it's a game of contests, and we didn't nail those at critical times, particularly in the second half."
Bolton found it difficult to hide his displeasure over the defeat.
"I probably won't sleep tonight," he said.
"Like all Bluebaggers, we don't like any loss. All the players are dirty, we are dirty. You've got to learn these lessons.
"There is lots to like but we've got to be able to adjust in-game and we failed to do so in the third (quarter).
"We'll have that human emotion for 24-48 hours and then you turn that emotion into determination.
"It's OK to feel the frustration, the agitation … but we don't lose any morale. It doesn't hang or linger all week. We turn that into determination."
