It's not a crisis, just a crisis of confidence.

That's the way Carlton are looking at their current slump, which has seen them lose four of the past five games, the last to Sydney on Sunday.

Blues midfielder Kade Simpson says the club must unearth some confidence but at this stage there is no panic.

"No, not at all. We're still in the eight and we're just looking to play West Coast this week who had a great win on the weekend," Simpson said on Monday.

"Hopefully we can get over there, get out of Melbourne and find a bit of confidence and get the win."

Simpson admits confidence is the key but says the club is unsure of how to recapture it.

"We are lacking a bit of flair and confidence at the moment so it's something we're going to have to find," he said.

"I think when we're up and about playing our best footy we match it with the best but as you've seen over the past couple of weeks if we're down just a tiny bit we sort of get smashed and aren't even really in the contest."

Whether confidence breeds wins or wins lead to confidence, Simpson says it now plays a major role in a club's destiny.

"It definitely has. Richmond, at the moment, they were up and about apart from yesterday, Adelaide couldn't win a game early in the year ... it just seems to play a massive role," he said.

"I'm not sure how you find it or where you get it from but hopefully we can.

"You've just got to keep doing everything on the track, working hard getting all the processes right.

"(Adelaide coach) Neil Craig says it all the time - he sort of knew it was going to turn for them because they just kept working at their structures and what they're good at and that's what we've got to do.

"We're just got to have faith in the plan and in all we did during the pre-season ... and it should come," he said.

Another issue the Blues have tried to work on without success is their slow starts.

They were crucified by the Swans on Sunday as Sydney kicked 6.3 to 1.0 in the first quarter, virtually sealing the win.

"Starts are crucial these days," Simpson said.

"Most teams, if they're leading at quarter-time go on with it and results have proven they win the game.

"We've tried a few different things during the warm-up - we're just going to have to keep trying.

"We don't really have the answer at the moment. It's something we can look at and just keep trying new things until we can find something that works."

Carlton sit in eighth spot and risk dropping out of the top half if they lose to West Coast at Subiaco Oval and ninth-placed North Melbourne beat struggling Essendon.

The Blues are yet to find out the severity of another hamstring injury suffered by first-round draft selection Kane Lucas.

But they received some welcome good news when halfback Andrew Walker escaped suspension for making front-on contact on Sydney's Ben McGlynn.

Walker is available for Saturday night's crucial game against the Eagles.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten reiterated his belief the club was not in crisis, and had the chance to arrest its slide.

Ratten said the Blues still expected to reach the finals.

"We're in eight, we're eight (wins) and eight (losses) with a percentage over 100 and it's back in our court for us to get the energy back up," he told Fox Sports on Monday night.

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