CARLTON co-captain Patrick Cripps is backing his young side despite “lapses” in games over preceding weeks. 

Lamenting the Blues’ performance against the Giants, Cripps stressed the match was not a reflection of the group’s development to date.

The joint skipper reflected on the weekend’s 93-point defeat to GWS when speaking on 3AW on Tuesday evening.

“I think the frustrating thing is the lapses in games like North and GWS game is not a true reflection of where we’re at,” Cripps said.

“We’re really confident throughout the rest of the season that we’re going to have some really positive performances.” 

The usually-unstoppable midfielder was kept at bay on Sunday, with Giants tagger Matt De Boar quelling his influence to a season-low 12 disposals.

The skipper was quick to commend the Giant for his persistence when reflecting on the defeat.

“He’s one of the most disciplined taggers I’ve had to play against. You can tell he does him homework,” he said of De Boer. 

“He just nags and tries to disrupt your game, but he does it in a way that’s not illegal and just goes about his business. I’ve got a lot of respect for the way he goes about it.”

Fresh off a robust review meeting with his teammates, Cripps defended his developing side ahead of next week’s clash with the Saints.

Reflecting on his own experience, the skipper believes it is only a matter of time before the young group hit their stride in terms of mental preparation.

“I always reflect back on my second year and when you have a breakout performance that’s when you start to think ‘geez I’m good enough’,” he said.

“Then you’ve got to unpack why you played well, what you did for mental preparation, what you did throughout the week.

“Everyone thinks you just rock up on game day and you play, but your preparation and to become a good player really starts at the beginning of the week.”

Cripps is confident the Blues’ intensity will be there heading into the weekend’s crucial clash with St Kilda.

“We pride ourselves that we train with a really hard edge and compete at training and we’ve done that all throughout the pre-season and especially this year,” he said. 

“You definitely get a little bit more edgy because you’re disappointed in how you’ve played and a lot of players have that feeling.”

“The system that’s run down there by the coaches and the fitness staff is really good and we train really hard as a group.”