“ARE we at where we want to be? Not yet.

“Are we on of those top-four teams at the moment. No, so there are a lot of areas to get better.”

David Teague said that his Carlton outfit wouldn’t be riding the coattails of a win over the arch rival last weekend, especially ahead of a clash with the high-flying Western Bulldogs.

The Blues got back on the winner’s list at the MCG, with the game praised by fans and media for its high-scoring and end-to-end nature.

Suggesting that there could be more of the same this weekend against the Bulldogs, Teague said his team would continue to react to what the game was telling them to do.

However, he conceded that the Blues were constantly focusing on tightening their defence which shone in wins over Fremantle and Gold Coast earlier this year.

“I’ll be honest, I think this game could be really exciting. It might be a high-scoring game and both teams will do their best defensively, but it could end up being a more offensive game,” Teague said.

“If we concede a big score, we need to make sure we kick a bigger score.

“Against Essendon early, our defence was off and we probably upped our offence to make sure we could stay in the game. You’ve got to adjust to what’s out there.

“Do we want our defence to get better? Yes, that’s probably our biggest growth area. But sometimes the game requires you to score and that could be the case this weekend.”

The Blues have been involved in some of the more high-scoring games this year, with last weekend’s clash with Essendon resulting in the highest aggregate score of any game this season.

With both sides likely to take on forward lines with three talls each this weekend, there’s every chance that the scoring power of the previous week will be matched once again.

Teague said that, unsurprisingly, there were members of the Carlton line-up who were suited to the high-octane style of football seen so far this year.

“When our players can play that instinctive footy and it’s a bit more open and free-flowing, quite a few of our players adjust to that style really well,” he said.

“Each week is a slightly different challenge and the Bulldogs play slightly different to other teams. They’re very good in the contest, they handball the ball and they move the ball quickly to their three key forwards.”

Teague maintained that the sole intention going into games was to emerge with the four points, regardless of whether it was an intense struggle or free-flowing battle on the scoreboard.

“There’s no point playing a real good but dour game if you don’t kick enough to win the game as well,” he said.

“We’ve still got areas in our offence that we want to get better as well. It’s a work in progress.”

Teague said that Paddy Dow, Marc Murphy, Jack Silvagni and Zac Williams would undergo fitness tests later on Thursday, while a judgment call was yet to be made on whether Tom De Koning and Nic Newman would be available for AFL or VFL selection this Sunday.