AFL SENIOR Coach Michael Voss says now is the time for his side to build momentum into the backend of the season.

With four games to go in the home-and-away season, Voss says Carlton are in the position to start creating moments that will set up the remainder of the year.

Here's what he had to say.

On the Çarlton v Collingwood rivalry: 

"It’s very exciting. Carlton and Collingwood itself is big enough.

"To have it on Saturday night and pay our respects as well to Scotty Pendlebury, we appreciate the environment that we’re walking into and it’s a great opportunity for us to go out there and play our best football."

On Voss playing against a debuting Pendlebury back in 2006:

"I didn’t pay attention to 18-year-olds back in that time! I pay attention to him now though, he’s had a fair career. To think 2006, and the journey he’s been on, from what I hear it’s not finishing.

"That speaks to his durability over time and his importance to the footy club. Even when you’re an opposition coach, you can stop for a moment and admire great players in our game. The best way we can pay our respects is to play our best version."

On the focus of the game: 

"I think the larger motivation for us is about trying to get the best out of ourselves. If there are some added things along the way that come with that, then so be it, but it’s certainly not our area of focus.

"Our job is to try to get the best form we possibly can at this stage of the season and we get to play against a really good opposition.

"We want to play well, we want to get that momentum that we want to finish the season with and that’s where we’re really eyes in on. Our focus hasn’t changed off that, but you also have to appreciate what’s happening around us and the reality is that this is going to have a finals-like atmosphere."

On the midfield group and their response: 

"The challenges don’t go away. I talked about the challenges in front of them and I also talked about how you back those guys in – they’re all very competitive, they’ve produced such a high standard over a long period of time, they’ve done that throughout this year but there’s some things we need to get to work on and be more consistent in.

"It would be wrong of us to say that is the only thing that we need to get after. We need to take an 18-man system into this game and it’s going to rely on everyone to get the job done, not just midfield versus midfield. We need to get the drive out of there as well."

On Tom De Koning:

"He’s out of hospital now, he’s pretty low key at the moment. The first part is with his lung and making sure he’s recovered there before we step into any exercise, he has to be pretty subdued with his foot for the first couple of weeks. He’ll take the couple of weeks to recover both areas then he’ll start to step up his training from there."

On the potential of tagging Nick Daicos: 

"We didn’t get that 100 per cent right the last time we played. I take solace in the fact that there haven’t been many clubs that have! He is a very important player to them and he gives them great drive and he’s got a lot of class.

"With our midfield, we have to look after that but also we’ve got a team system we need to play. There’s always a balance between looking after the individual but also getting our system to play and doesn’t impact it too much. We’ll be asking a few questions of the opposition the other way."

On using lessons from the Round 8 clash:

"You take small parts out of it but a lot can happen over the course of the 10 weeks. The form of both sides, the personnel that’s there and slight little things you might change between that game and the next. We take some parts from it, not all of it."

On the right time to hit their straps: 

"I’d like to be doing it from Round 1, but I appreciate that form does fluctuate from time to time. We need to gather that momentum coming into the backend of the season. Every week we’re stepping out there trying to look for the next moment to do that, I wouldn’t mind it being this weekend."

On Jack Martin's 150-game milestone: 

"He’s had some time to wait for that, but he’s been an extremely important person for us. We saw his impact late last year, what he’s been able to produce for us and he’s got that real X-factor.

"I don’t think many people talk about just how tough he is: he puts his head down and is pretty scary in that front half when he’s coming after you, he doesn’t miss too many tackles.

"It’s great to have him back in the side. I know a lot of players walk taller with him in it and I’m really pleased he gets to celebrate his 150th game."

On his favourite Carlton v Collingwood moments: 

"There’s a lot of games, I think one thing you always love about these particular games is the defining moments. You’re never too sure when those are and you’re not planning for them too much, but you know they’ll exist at some stage throughout the game and we’re going to have moments.

"We’ve talked a lot about our past players and what those moments have been for them, we’ve heard lots of those stories and we’re focused on creating some of our own. This is just another opportunity to do that."