IN THE Carlton rooms after Saturday’s 24-point loss to Collingwood, there were plenty of disappointed players. Young midfielder Andrew Carrazzo, who gathered 36 possessions in a strong performance, was clearly one of them.

“I’m just exhausted. It’s a bit demoralising – you’re always sore after a loss like that,” Carrazzo told carltonfc.com.au.

After the Carlton players finished their warm-down stretches, full-forward Brendan Fevola had some encouraging words for Carrazzo.

“I was a bit disappointed with myself so he told me to keep my head up. He’s pretty good like that. I get along with him pretty well,” said Carrazzo.

Carrazzo gathered five hard-ball gets against the Magpies, which (along with Cain Ackland) was the most of any player in the match. In 2007, he is averaging more than 25 possessions per game – the fifth-highest of any AFL player.

Carrazzo said his improvement was due to being more confident. “I just back myself more now,” he said.

“[Leadership] is something I’m striving towards. When your confidence grows, you’ve got the respect of the group to speak up more.

“Sometimes I think I do have that respect, and then other times I think I’ve still got to work for it. We definitely need guys to step up,” he said.

While Anthony Rocca (five goals) and Travis Cloke (four) “probably killed us in the end,” Carrazzo was not shirking blame for the loss.

“I let [veteran Magpie Scott] Burns go a couple of times in the last quarter when I should have been on him. Apart from that I think I did okay, but when the game was up for grabs, I could have done a couple of things differently and it probably cost us a bit,” Carrazzo said.

“We had a pretty young team today, so we can only be better for it.”

The Blues face Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium next Saturday.