Carlton assistant coach Mark Riley says factors beyond the club's control contributed to a flat display last round, but there are no excuses against Fremantle on Saturday night.

The Blues were shock 29-point losers to North Melbourne last Friday night, the defeat costing them a chance to overtake the Dockers in the AFL top four, or at least trail them only by percentage.

Riley said while he was not attempting to excuse the performance, short intervals between games, combined with injuries, helped explain it.

"We didn't have any of our top players play well, we came off two six-day turnarounds and then two weeks before that we played 20 men because of injury," he said on Friday.

"That's not an excuse, but that's one reason why possibly you may be flat.

"But that's dead and buried, we're coming off an eight-day turnaround, we've got numbers coming back (from injury) so we should be up and about.

"And we should be up and about because we were not intense enough (against the Kangaroos) as well."

The Blues have been boosted with the return from injury of defender Paul Bower, small forward Chris Yarran and utility Kane Lucas.

Key forward Lachie Henderson also comes into the side, at the expense of Setanta O'hAilpin, who is out with a calf injury, but would most likely have been axed anyway.

"That's a question you'll never know the answer to," Riley said, before acknowledging the Irishman's form had "tapered off".

But he said the selection pressure of a greater number of fit players was welcome, causing Mitch Robinson and Dennis Armfield to be dropped, despite some reasonable recent form.

Riley said athletic ruckman-forward Shaun Hampson was also pushing for a spot with good recent VFL performances after early season injuries, although the form of Matthew Kreuzer and Sam Jacobs has so far kept him out.

The Dockers, coming off losses to Adelaide and St Kilda, made three changes, losing Nick Suban to an elbow injury, while Byron Schammer and Zac Clarke were dropped.

A third straight defeat could cause Fremantle to drop out of the top four, and aid the cause of the Western Bulldogs and Sydney, who, along with the Blues, are poised one win behind the Dockers.

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