Carlton's joy at regaining Sam Walsh earlier than first expected has been offset by the loss of boom recruit Adam Cerra to the AFL club's growing COVID-19 cluster.
Cerra will miss the Blues' clash with the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night as they attempt to back-up an impressive opening-round win over Richmond.
The former Fremantle midfielder joins coach Michael Voss and teammate Jack Martin in AFL health and safety protocols.
All other Blues players returned negative test results on Wednesday morning.
"While it's unfortunate for Adam that he is unavailable for tomorrow night, we are glad he is feeling OK," Carlton head of football Brad Lloyd said.
"After last Friday, we obviously knew it was a reality that further players might have been impacted, so we simply adapt and move forward, as we have all week."
Senior assistant Ash Hansen will take the coaching reins from Voss at Marvel Stadium and confirmed Walsh will return from an ankle syndesmosis injury.
The Blues' reigning best-and-fairest winner had surgery in February and was initially forecast to miss the first month of the season.
He shapes as a key addition to the midfield in Cerra's absence against a high-powered Bulldogs engine room.
"He's an important member of our team and did everything right in his preparation, so we're excited to welcome him back," Hansen said.
"Everyone's got their individual (recovery) timeline and Sam's ticked all the boxes that we've required him to, both medically and physically.
"We'd never put him in harm's way, especially a man of his calibre and talent.
"We're really confident that he's hit all the boxes he needed to and he'll help us compete tomorrow night."
Voss will be able to dial in to Carlton's coaches box from a remote location to have tactical input against the Bulldogs.
"The AFL have been fantastic in their ability for us to be able to explore different ways to be connected," Hansen said.
"(Voss) understands that the game is going to be going so fast that he'll contribute and have eyes on it where he can, but has really empowered us as a coaching group to make decisions."
