Carlton are desperate to rebound from their shock loss to North Melbourne and take some winning momentum into the AFL mid-season break and beyond.

Blues coach Brett Ratten says a victory against Fremantle at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night is vital for his players' state of mind, as dwelling a loss could ruin their week off in the split round.

"Let's take away the four points and let's just look at the win-loss," Ratten said on Wednesday.

"A win going into a break allows players to really enjoy the break and mentally freshen, knowing that they can go into the following week with a bit of confidence.

"That would be good, for the whole club, to leave with a win under their belt.

"To go away with a loss, you think about the game that is coming up and you worry about it a little bit more, so from a rest point of view you don't really take that break.

"I think it will be really important for our group to mentally get away from footy but having that win will allow you to do that - having a loss might not."

Last Friday's disappointing 29-point loss to North Melbourne saw the Blues slip to sixth with a win-loss record of 7-5 and 28 points, four points behind the fourth-placed Dockers.

Ratten said the Blues were jumped early by North, made too many errors and did not penetrate the 50m arc often enough.

He also said "undisciplined acts" cost the side three goals near the end of the match and a change of attitude was urgently needed.

Ratten forecast up to four changes this week, with defender Paul Bower a certain inclusion against the Dockers and Brock McLean, Chris Yarran and Kane Lucas among a large group also pushing for recalls.

But he also said the club must overcome its inconsistency, having failed to string together more than two wins in succession in 2010.

"It would be nice to get that three wins and see if we could really get into a real groove of winning and creating that confidence," he said.

"Sometimes when you have that two wins, one loss, it starts to put a little bit of doubt back in your mind and you lose a little bit of confidence on the flip side.

"It's something that we've had a look at. I think it's something that is more (about) our approach in games mentally more than physically.

"You maybe take your foot off the pedal a little bit or you expect someone else to start it for you.

"The start of games are really critical and I think you've seen with most games this year, the team that leads at quarter-time usually wins the game.

"We've shown that when we start well we usually win the game - when we don't it's hard yards."

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