Blues not feeling pressure: Malthouse

Carlton coach Mick Malthouse insists there’s no extra pressure on his team to beat West Coast on Friday night despite being outgunned in round one.

The Blues lost convincingly to Richmond in last week’s AFL season-opener but if Malthouse is a worried man he certainly isn’t showing it.

“I said to the young lads, there are eight other teams that have lost the first round,” Malthouse said.

“There’s nine winners and nine losers. We’re just a side that hasn’t won a game.

“You’ll still need 11 or 12 (wins) to make the eight. It’s a marathon.

“(Teams) have their ups and downs. Injuries come about, form drops away, consistency leaves you, and all of a sudden there’s turn-ups.”

Heavy rain in Perth all week could make Friday’s clash a slip-and-slide affair.

Malthouse said he was unlikely to make late changes to his side despite the expected wet conditions.

With Dale Thomas (shoulder) and Kristian Jaksch (ribs) out injured, former Bulldog Jason Tutt will make his Blues debut on Friday night.

The 23-year-old managed just 26 games over four seasons with the Bulldogs, but Malthouse hopes the forward/midfielder will be able to flourish at the Blues.

“We looked at Tutty early last year and just watched him on the way through,” Malthouse said of Tutt, who played softball and rugby union in his junior years.

“He’s a young kid that was introduced late to football and probably hadn’t picked up a lot of the idiosyncrasies coming from the ACT.

“So as a late comer there’s a lot of things were we believe he can mature.

“And he’s quick, he kicks the ball a long way, he’s got a habit of kicking goals at the right time.”

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