Carlton coach Mick Malthouse can't see Dale Thomas being fit to play against West Coast next Friday night after the midfielder dislocated his left shoulder in the Blues' loss to Richmond.
Thomas dislocated his shoulder when thrown to the ground in a strong tackle by Richmond debutant Kamdyn McIntosh in the opening minute of Thursday night's game at the MCG.
The former Magpie left the ground immediately after his injury and was substituted from the game soon after.
VIDEO: David Rhys-Jones and Shane McInnes discuss the Blues' loss
Malthouse said Carlton would not know the severity of Thomas' injury until he had scans, but suggested the midfielder would all but certainly miss at least one week.
"(His shoulder) came right out so I suspect that (our) medical (staff) will give us an update at some stage in the next couple of days given it's Easter," Malthouse said.
"I suppose he'll get X-rayed and we'll be clearer probably by Monday I suspect. Hopefully before that, but I couldn't see him playing next week."
Malthouse said key forward Levi Casboult's omission from the Blues' round one team was a simple matter of poor form.
The Blues coach told reporters on Thursday night he was confident Casboult could return to Carlton's team but would need to find form in the VFL first.
"If he plays well tomorrow then he'll be in the selection frame (for round two) but his form was down – you can't just (get a game) because your name's Levi Casboult," Malthouse said.
"Levi played three games in the NAB Challenge and hasn't kicked a goal, so you've got to put it in the right perspective.
"He's a terrific kid, I'm sure he will fight back and hopefully plays well tomorrow and puts his name up because he can be a strong mark and he can be a long kick, but he's probably got to become an accurate kick."
Former Giant Kristian Jaksch had a mixed night on his club debut for the Blues.
VIDEO: Kristian Jaksch post-match
Early on Thursday night he was exposed in the air by Tigers forward Ben Griffiths, but he took a strong contested mark when he was moved into attack and kicked a brilliant goal from the boundary line early in the second term.
Malthouse said the third-year tall remained a work in progress but stressed the Blues would play him as much as they could this year.
"He's a young bloke and tall young players, unless they're Wayne Carey or perhaps (Matthew) Pavlich, they take time," he said.
"We'll play him, we'll keep playing him when we need to and if we can, but he's probably 10kg lighter than what he should (be) for the position he plays.
"So it's a program for us to put in place for him over the next two or three seasons to get that weight on.
"He'll be able to perform better because he's a quality kid, he wants to play and he's got some very, very good skills.
"He's always going to be outmuscled by players like (Mitch) Clark last week and Griffiths this week, but our improvement has to come through those kids."
Malthouse praised Simon White's game against Richmond in a new run-with role.
VIDEO: Simon White post-match
The former defender kept Tigers star Dustin Martin to 13 disposals and one goal to be one of the Blues' best players.
