MIDFIELDER Heath Scotland believes Carlton did the right thing by suspending Eddie Betts, Jeff Garlett and Cameron Cloke, even though it hurt the side's forward structure.

The three players missed Saturday's 72-point defeat to Adelaide, which also saw the Blues lose fifth spot.

Scotland, 29, said his teammates supported the discipline after Betts, Garlett and Cloke were late to a recovery session last week.

"It's disappointing because it would be good to have them in the side but like it's been said, it's about setting a precedent now," he said after the game.

"We want to be a successful club for a number of years and these sorts of incidents need to get punished pretty hard.

"Blokes will learn from it and we'll be better off for it.

"Obviously they're quality players, and Eddie in particular has had a super year. It definitely does hurt us – Clokey and Jeff as well, because they were in good form, too.

"But Chris Yarran played pretty well and he had some inside 50 tackles, so our defensive pressure was still up there."

However, Scotland said absences were no excuse for the way the rest of the team played following an impressive first quarter.

"We had players to cover them and, as a whole, you can't say it was just those players that cost us because we played terribly," he said.

"We got into a trap where we didn't play with too much defensive pressure last week against Melbourne, and it probably flowed over.

"It's the kick in the bum we needed today, and we'll rectify it before next week."

Scotland said while the missed opportunity was disappointing, there were bigger issues for the Blues to deal with in the aftermath.

"It's more so the way we played. To have such a big score kicked against us was really disappointing," he said.

"We've just got to move on. We are in the finals and we haven't been there for a number of years.

"Anything can happen. As far as today is concerned, it doesn't even count next week.

"There are eight sides in it, and if we play our best footy we can do some damage."

The Blues will now play the Brisbane Lions in an elimination final at the Gabba next weekend.

Scotland said the Blues' two wins over the Lions this year – in rounds two and 11 – would give them belief ahead of the game, regardless of its location.