BRETT Ratten has pledged to get Carlton's house in order ahead of Sunday's clash against Melbourne with his team's ineffectiveness at stoppages the first item on his agenda.

Disappointing losses to St Kilda and Adelaide in the past fortnight have seen the Blues plummet to last place in the competition in crucial clearance statistics from rounds four to eight.

Ratten admits the confidence of his players has taken a beating in recent weeks, and while a clash against the winless Demons offers a gilt-edged opportunity to restore some pride, his focus is squarely on his own struggling team.

"I think this week's all about us - it's not about who we're playing," Ratten said from Visy Park on Thursday.

"We've done our opposition scouting and gone through all the numbers and the vision … but from our point of view we need to get out own backyard right.

"Our contested ball and our clearances have been down and that's something that we need to work on.

"Whether we're playing Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Geelong or West Coast … it's not about the team that we're playing it's about us getting that right and we need to get that right ASAP.

"In all the facets of the (Adelaide) game we were smashed. They were a very good team and worked us over … last week was a real wake-up call that we have to get back and really focus on what we have to do."

The long-term injury to Andrew Carrazzo, who Ratten hopes will be ready to take on West Coast in round 12, has been a factor in Carlton's woes at the stoppages, with the loss of Marc Murphy to a serious shoulder injury at the weekend exacerbating the problem.

With the Blues' hardness at the ball widely questioned over the past fortnight, Ratten backed Mitch Robinson to step up and add some toughness around the packs this weekend.

"I think someone like Robinson really needs to go for it in there," he said.

"He's a hard player, he can win the contest against multiple players, so I think he's one that could really add a bit of grunt for us in there all the time. We've used him spasmodically, but I think it's a great opportunity for him to get in there and really get going."

Ratten admitted the Blues had "lost our way a little" after a strong start to the season, but a tough week on the training track had him confident of a reversal in fortunes.
 
"We've trained really hard this week, no one's been missed, and there's been situations where no one can hide," he said.

"I think we'll get a lot of confidence out of that and be ready for the battle."

Jarrad Waite will miss another week with a back injury, while Nick Duigan has also been ruled out of Sunday's game.

Ratten revealed that Sam Rowe, who is battling testicular cancer, has undergone his first round of chemotherapy and is in good spirits. He has been around the club during the week and will continue to help out the coaching staff during his treatment and recovery from the disease.