Carlton’s star midfield trio are finally back together, and coach Brendon Bolton hopes it will spark his side to an upset win over Richmond in Thursday’s AFL season-opener.

Blues skipper Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Patrick Cripps are all guaranteed starters at the MCG on Thursday night for what will be their first game together since May last year.

Murphy suffered an ankle injury and did not play after round 10 last season, while Gibbs missed much of 2015 with a torn pectoral muscle.

In the 44 games young gun Cripps has played since his debut in early-2014, the trio have managed just 19 appearances together.

Bolton says their reunion will go a long way towards countering a Tigers midfield bolstered by new additions Dion Prestia, Josh Caddy and ruckman Toby Nankervis.

“They’ve now added Caddy and Prestia, so they’ve got more midfield depth but we’ve got some guys that hold their own in there,” Bolton said on Wednesday.

“Cripps, Murphy, Gibbs … they haven’t been together for a while because of Murphy’s injury so it’s going to be a good battle in there.”

Bolton said he was excited to see Murphy enjoy his first uninterrupted pre-season in years and believed the 29-year-old still had scope for improvement.

“He’ll lead by example and when he’s got the ball in his hands, we know he uses it well,” Bolton said.

“With a full pre-season with no interruptions – touch wood – and no more injuries, I think we’ll see the best of Marc Murphy this year.”

The Blues will field up to six players aged 20 or under on Thursday but Bolton would not confirm whether top draft pick Sam Petrevski-Seton was set to make his debut.

There is plenty of excitement at Princes Park about the silky midfielder from Western Australia’s far-north but a strained quad has interrupted his pre-season.

The 19-year-old took part in a light training session on Wednesday but may be held back to play in the VFL instead.

“He’s had some good match practice, (although) he hasn’t played in the JLT,” Bolton said.

“He’s fit and ready for selection. We’ve got to determine whether we go with that or not.”