Carlton coach Mick Malthouse has issued the challenge to his players – make a statement for the rest of the AFL season.

A 28-point loss to the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday has virtually killed off the Blues’ hopes of playing finals.

Now Malthouse is urging his team – which will be without superstar Chris Judd for the rest of the season after his knee injury – to not throw in the towel, and play like they mean it against finals-bound Richmond next week.

“We’ve got to have a reality check of where we’re at and take some pride out with us,” Malthouse said.

“This is a great test for our team. We could fold up the cards, or stand up and make a statement.

“We play a talented side next week, one that’s securely inside the eight … and this is an opportunity to stand up.”

Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney couldn’t have been more pleased with his players’ approach to weathering a season spent on a learning curve which has finally started to swing upwards in the last five weeks.

The Dogs have now won two of their past three, and pushed Essendon, Hawthorn and Sydney in recent weeks.

“The players have to take a lot of credit for this. It was quite evident to me six or seven weeks ago how desperate they were to get better,” McCartney said.

“They were impatient and they wanted to get better. To their credit, they’ve kept listening, kept accepting feedback and coaching, and doing their best to do something about it.”