Carlton's Chris Yarran has described Friday night's six-point loss to Geelong as "a very disappointing result."
Yarran says that whilst the Blues remained competitive throughout the game, it was a sense of deja vu when the Cats regained the lead at the 23-minute mark of the final term.
"We were all over them during the whole game and unfortunately we let it slip again like we did in Round 12,” Yarran said.
The Blues were out of luck approaching the fourth quarter with Davey Ellard, Dale Thomas and Troy Menzel all having succumbed to injury.
Yarran says that whilst it added extra pressure, it's no excuse for having lost the game.
"We knew at three-quarter time that we had one rotation on the bench," Yarran said.
"We knew that we were in for a tough fight – I think those rotations hurt us a little bit, but we can't blame that for the loss.
"We'll just cop it on the chin and we'll move forward next week."
The 25-year-old capped off an impressive year for the Blues, notching-up 22 disposals and kicking one goal during the Round 21 clash.
Yarran said that after a disappointing season last year, he was committed to making amends.
"I was able to get a good pre-season under my belt, which held me in good stead throughout this year,” Yarran said.
"It's probably a breakout year for me. It's a good reward for all the hard work that I put in throughout the pre-season."
Regardless of Friday night's result, Yarran says the Blues have proven themselves as a side that can play competitively against the top teams.
And he’s optimistic about the future.
"We're putting a lot of games into the young blokes like (Troy) Menzel. (Ciaran) Sheehan showed a lot of promise tonight and over the last two weeks. He's only going to get better after another pre-season,” Yarran said.
"We've certainly got the young talent ahead, and it's obviously good to see Juddy (Chris Judd) sign up for another year, which is going to help our midfield enormously.
"We'll work hard and hopefully rectify things next year and get this Club back towards the eight."
