Key Blues Matthew Kreuzer, Mitch Robinson and Zach Tuohy are far from automatic recalls into Carlton's team for Saturday night's last-chance dance against Richmond at the MCG.
All three players missed last week's win over the Western Bulldogs with injuries and are yet to convince the coaching staff they will be fit to play against the Tigers, in a game that could keep the Blues in the hunt for finals, or all but extinguish their fading September hopes.
Ratten said the trio needed to prove themselves in today's main training session, but was less than confident when asked about their chances.
"Robbo will do some work today, just depending on how he goes, and Matthew will be an assess-after-training (case)," Ratten said before today's session at Visy Park.
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"Zach did some work on Monday, so today is pretty important for him. Monday was pretty light, 15-20 minutes all about skill, whereas today will be a little bit more dynamic and see how he responds," he said.
"Some of these niggles and things are pretty much a session-by-session assessment, not game-by-game, to see how they've gone, how they've pulled up and can we push on?"
Ratten said Kreuzer (hip) was more "likely than unlikely" but added "when I say that it usually goes the other way", while Robinson (calf) and Tuohy (back) could both be significant inclusions into the team that steamrolled the out-of-form Dogs in the second half last Saturday night.
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