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CARLTON ball magnet Heath Scotland says teammate Nick Stevens showed exactly why he’s in the Blues’ best 22 on Friday night.

Stevens grabbed 25 possessions and ranked among the most efficient by foot in the grinding 10-point win over North Melbourne.

“Having Nick Stevens back in the side with his skill of kicking made a big difference", he said.

“He’s played 220-odd games and he’s a champion player.

“We’ve really missed him the last four weeks, so to have him back and playing some good footy was brilliant. He and (Marc) Murphy made a big difference in the middle".

Murphy overcame the flu to kick four goals from 23 possessions, and he was not the only Blue to suffer from illness in the lead-up to the match.

Scotland said flu impacted the club’s preparations with only 26 players completing Wednesday’s training session.

 “Whether the flu had an impact in getting the boys and up and going, I’m not too sure, but the bottom line is we just couldn’t get our hands on the footy in the first half,” he said.

“They out numbered us a lot with possession and clearances but we started to win more of it in the second half and ground away.”

The 29-year-old said the backdrop of North warrior Adam Simpson’s last game was always going to make life tough for the Roos.

“It was a big game for them with (Adam) Simpson retiring so we knew they were going to give everything for him because he’s been a champion player,” he said.

“It was good just to get the result.”