CARLTON coach Brett Ratten is still confident his team can make the finals despite being leapfrogged by North Melbourne in the race for the eight.

The Blues and Kangaroos were two of five teams locked on seven wins going into Friday night's clash, but Carlton lost for the fifth time in its last six games as the Kangaroos romped to a 53-point victory.

Despite the heavy loss, the Blues coach says it is still too early to consider his team a lost cause for 2012.

"We've still got some footy to play and you can't write us off just yet. Until [the ladder] says 'you're out', we won't be looking elsewhere but trying to make the finals or scrape in," Ratten said on Friday night.

The Blues went into Friday night's match one week after halting Collingwood's 10-game winning streak, and Ratten said the inability to build on such an inspiring win was starting to become a pattern not helped by a mounting injury toll.

"I think we need to get some momentum and that's probably the bit we're not getting. We're not getting traction. We did early doors and that sort of fell away," he said.

"I suppose a bit of continuity in the team … it'd be nice to not have three and four changes most weeks."

The Blues conceded 24 goals to a deadly-accurate North Melbourne team that converted all 16 of its set shots.

Ratten said North Melbourne's phenomenal use of the ball was the main difference between the two teams.

"It was just their ability to score at will and our inability to use the footy. Our skill level was below par, way below par and our ability to defend especially when the ball was in between the arcs was really average," he said.

"They just scored too easy. That was the most disappointing thing about tonight … the 'save a goal' mentality in comparison to last week - there was a fair differential."

Luke Holmesby is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Luke