CARLTON will be without co-captain Sam Docherty this weekend, but could call on the services of Jack Martin for the final game of the 2020 season.

Docherty will miss Carlton’s remaining clash with Brisbane due to a calf injury which brought him from the ground in the first quarter against Adelaide.

Director of High Performance Andrew Russell spoke on the decision to include the co-captain in last week’s line-up.

“‘Doc’ didn’t get through the game which we all saw on the day,” Russell said.

“He came through the previous game with a tight calf: he actually settled down really well, he trained fully the day before the game, he was cleared to play medically.

“We make these calls 20-25 times a year with guys who have low-level muscle issues. We do a very good job at getting it right, this time we didn’t get it right — we probably missed it by 24 hours in all reality.”

Bluebaggers will be pleased to see Jack Martin return to the line-up for the Round 18 clash, the Blues’ star recruit missing last week’s clash through calf soreness.

Russell said the expectation was Martin would be available for the upcoming clash with the Lions.

“We expect to be available this week. He has missed the week: we feel like he is a really good chance to play this week,” he said.

The news is not as positive for forward Zac Fisher, who will miss the final round of the home-and-away season with a shoulder injury sustained against Adelaide.

Russell commended Fisher for his willingness to play his role for the entirety of the match after the early injury.

“‘Fish’ did a really good job to play the game out with that shoulder, he was clearly sore from that tackle,” he said.

“He’s got a bit of an unusual injury, he’s got a bit of a bone bruise around the back of his shoulder.

“He’s certainly not going to play this week and he’d probably miss 3-4 weeks with this injury if we were in the middle of the season.”