Carlton were never in the hunt last week in going down to North Melbourne by 29 points, and Riley said that while the team’s hardness at the ball was not in question, some players may have lost focus heading into the match.
“I would have thought that teams like Geelong and St Kilda are as hard and as tough as anyone going around, and it wasn’t an issue in those two fixtures,” Riley said on Friday morning.
Carlton has beaten both the Cats and the Saints this season.
“I just thought maybe some of our aggression was a tad misplaced [last week], and should have been at the ball and at the man in possession, rather than some of that off-the-ball rubbish," Riley said.
"We have addressed that."
Riley said the Blues were also hopeful last week’s disappointing performance was more of an aberration than something to which fans will become accustomed. While not making excuses, he said there may have been some reasons for Carlton’s lacklustre display.
“It’s never one thing in footy, why you either play well or why you play poorly,” he said.
“We didn’t have any of our top players play well. We came off two six-day turnarounds and then two weeks before that we played with 20 men because of injuries.
“That’s not an excuse - that’s one reason why possibly you may be flat, possibly.”
Riley is confident a more-rested Carlton side - which has made four changes for Saturday night’s match - is ready to return to its best.
“We’re coming off an eight-day turnaround, we’ve got numbers coming back ... we should be up and about," he said.
The return of Paul Bower, Lachie Henderson, Kane Lucas and Chris Yarran will help the Blues in their quest to return to the winner’s list. Riley said Bower, who is among a host of players in line to mind Freo skipper Matthew Pavlich, was “an integral part” of the club’s defensive unit.
Henderson also returns to fill a forward role vacated by Setanta O’hAilpin, who has a leg injury. While Riley said O’hAilpin would be fit after the bye, he hinted the Irishman - along with fellow omission Mitch Robinson - also needed to recapture some confidence.
“Setanta’s form early in the season was terrific, and it’s tapered off," Riley said.
