Melbourne's injury and suspension crisis is about to ease, but coach Dean Bailey says it does not excuse Friday night's AFL performance against Carlton.

The Demons, missing about half of their first-choice team to injury and suspension, were never in the hunt, falling 13.15 (93) to 6.10 (46), their fourth loss in five games.

Some key players could return for next round's Friday night clash with Essendon at the MCG.

Jack Trengove will be back from suspension, while fellow midfield young gun Tom Scully could play his first AFL game of the season after a knee injury, depending how he pulls up from a VFL hit-out on Saturday.

Bailey also said classy running defender Aaron Davey was a 50-50 chance to play against the Bombers, after missing the Blues clash with knee soreness.

But the coach said the long list of absentees did not excuse an error-riddled and patchy performance against Carlton.

"It was disappointing absolutely, regardless of who's in the team," Bailey said.

"We're not talking about the blokes, you could sit here for an hour and talk about what-ifs and could-haves and should-haves, but the reality is we had 22 players and so did they.

"They lost a couple players to injury throughout the game and we were unable to take opportunities, we were unable to get enough opportunities to go inside 50 and score.

"And some of our ball use, even though the conditions were a bit slippery, our ball use was disappointing, we coughed up some very, very simple goals.

"They're the things that not only disappoint players, but they disappoint people watching the game."

Bailey said the frequency with which Melbourne's goals were quickly answered by Carlton showed a lack of concentration and his side were thrashed at the stoppages.

"There were times in the game when they were still trying to have a crack, but when the pressure was put on we weren't there for the fight unfortunately often enough."

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