Carlton coach Brett Ratten knows it is asking a lot of his men to defeat a Sydney unit playing arguably more fluent football than the 2005 AFL premiership team.

Complicating matters is the fitness of prime mover Andrew Carrazzo (hamstring), who remained doubtful after the Blues trained under grey skies at ANZ Stadium on Saturday morning.

Having lost Carrazzo then the momentum in a narrow round 22 loss to Fremantle in Perth, Ratten said the 26-year-old was key as he was one Blues player capable of matching the Swans for effective running both ways.

"It'll be up to the player and we'll sit down after training here, but we'll try to get him up if we can," said Ratten, coach of a team that has not won in Sydney since 1993.

"He is really important and we saw that last week with him going down and our ability with our rotations and to keep the run in the game, (Stephen) Hill got off the leash a bit and really hurt us through the middle of the game.

"It is important to get Andrew up."

Should Carrazzo fail to prove his fitness, travelling emergency Chris Yarran will earn a reprieve after being dropped from the 22 beaten by the Dockers.

The Blues have been very much a mid-table team for most of 2010, occasionally sparkling but also failing to convince for long periods.

Sydney were much the same until a month ago, when they began a run of form that stands up to the level of any side in the competition over the past four weeks.

"If you look at all the key stats and indicators they're in the top one, two or three in the competition in the last month, so we'll have our work cut out," said Ratten.

"They're probably more offensive now than when they won the premiership, when you bring in the likes of (Lewis) Jetta and others who run and carry and have that dash in their game, I think they've become a little more offensive.

"They're also winning the ball a bit more than in their premiership year.

"Maybe just winning the ball and getting it in our hands will be the key."

While Swans coach Paul Roos and co-captain Brett Kirk have presided over an era of premiership success and a sustained finals presence, Ratten is still trying to build a tradition of strong seasons after Carlton's era of famine.

A wrenching elimination final defeat to Brisbane last year still burns among the Blues, who apart from decorated captain Chris Judd remain exceptionally callow as a finals team.

"Last year we had a taste of finals and the disappointment of losing and especially the way we lost as well," said Ratten.

"At the start of the year we wanted to play finals, and we have that opportunity.

"Winning a final is the next stage, and with this group of young men that'll taste this as well, I think the experience last year for (Marc) Murphy and (Bryce) Gibbs and co, will hopefully be something that'll carry us across the line."

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