CARLTON has ruled out Jarrad Waite from this week’s game against Port Adelaide with an ongoing back complaint after injuring it against the Saints in round seven.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten says that Waite’s back failed to respond In the way the club had hoped.

"It (his back injury) hasn't responded the way we'd like and it was one of those things where he's done a fair bit of work, so do we push him earlier in the week to try and get him up, or allow him two weeks of taking a different tack with it?" said Ratten.

"We don't know when he's going to be right at the moment. We just have to wait and see.”

The bad news comes on the back of a grinding win against Melbourne last weekend, with the Blues’ Andrew Walker conceding that the Blues’ last quarter contested ball play was the key to the Blues running over the top of the Demons.

Bottom of the table Melbourne pushed the Blues hard for three quarters before Carlton kicked away in the final term.

“Our focus during the week was on contested footy, tackling and clearances and we won all three areas against Melbourne which was really important,” said Walker.

“Winning these areas was the key for us winning the game.”

The omission of Waite means that the Blues are going to need to play a four-quarter effort against a Port Adelaide side that has finished strongly over the last two weeks.

The task may become harder for a Blues defence (that could also lose Lachie Henderson with a groin injury) coming up against a fully functional Port forward line that had eleven different goal scorers against the Suns last weekend.

A rejuvenated Port Adelaide midfield boasting an in form Travis Boak and Danyle Pearce will also make life difficult for the Carlton on ballers with Andrew Carrazzo and last year’s club best and fairest Marc Murphy out of the Blues side with injury.