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CARLTON coach Brett Ratten has lauded Marc Murphy in the wake of his side’s fighting 10-point win over North Melbourne.

Murphy suffered a bout of the flu during the week but managed to pick himself off the mat to kick four match-winning goals from 23 possessions.

“He was in doubt a little bit to play, which I’m amazed because he virtually crawled out of bed yesterday to train and to get through and do what he’s done I think is a super effort,” Ratten said.

“He had the flu but he got it later than earlier in the week which hindered him coming into the game.”

Murphy started on the bench and looked sluggish early, but gathered 18 of his 23 touches after quarter time in a tough effort.

Ratten said he felt relief rather than elation despite the win keeping the Blues’ finals chances alive.

“The game was a big one for us to win, but, did we play well? – no,” Ratten said.

“We had little moments here and there but we’ve got a bit of work to do.

"How slow did we play in our back 50? We were so slow and wanted to be so precise yet we still made mistakes.

"We want to play quicker and if you have a few blues then at least you’re having a go and that was the thing that actually changed it because we attacked the game a bit more and showed some boldness.

“You live by the sword and die by the sword but I thought we were just too apprehensive in the first half.”

The Carlton coach admitted the Roos inaccuracy was a factor – North Melbourne kicked nine behinds and one out on the full from 10 scoring shots in the final term – but said the key to the win was his midfield’s ability to win the football after half time.

“There’s two teams out there and one’s getting a lot of the footy, tacking really hard and working extremely hard and the other is not putting any imprint on the game,” he said of the first half.

“I thought we changed that through the midfield and got our hands on the ball and ran a bit more.”

Ratten was pleased with the 25-possession effort of Nick Stevens, the contested work of youngster Dennis Armfield and the two-goal effort of Bret Thornton who was thrown forward after half time nursing a shoulder injury.

He was also pleased enigmatic forward Brendan Fevola who stayed focussed to kick three goals despite an early indiscretion that saw him dragged and the constant niggling tactics of opponent Scott Thompson.

“Most of the times when we’ve taken him off he’s responded well and had a fantastic effort defensively and then he gets some reward,” he said.