COLLINGWOOD defender Chris Tarrant has been all but ruled out of Friday night's blockbuster against Carlton after injuring a "very tight" calf muscle against Richmond.

The 31-year-old left the field in the first quarter of the 21-point win over the Tigers after just one kick.

He was treated in the rooms for what the club later called a "very tight" calf, but had to be subbed out at the first break.

The Pies will assess the injury but coach Nathan Buckley said it appeared unlikely Tarrant would be available to face the Blues.

"If he can't get through a quarter of footy, I wouldn't think six days later he'd be right to play four," Buckley said.

"We know it was very tight - tight enough not to have him play after quarter time.

"We'll see how he cools down and the docs and 'Butters' [director of sports science David Buttifant] will go through the normal process to work out if there's anything structurally there."

It was Tarrant's first game after a limited pre-season caused by a lingering foot complaint.

Buckley said he "went into the game ready to go" after one VFL appearance last Saturday.

"When you've played as much footy as Taz has, you know your body pretty well and he was concerned about how his calf was feeling as the first quarter rolled on," he said.

"He came off to have it assessed, tried to warm it up again, basically until quarter time, and felt he wasn't comfortable continuing given he thought that he was probably very likely to rip it.

"We'll see how it cools down and how he comes out of this game but it's obviously not ideal for this week or the near future."

In better news, captain Nick Maxwell told Triple M before the game he would definitely return from an ankle injury against the Blues.

Sharrod Wellingham, who is eligible for selection after serving a two-week club suspension, will be strongly considered after being left out of Saturday's VFL loss to North Ballarat with the six-day break in mind.

Ben Johnson is also in line after two VFL games back from a hamstring while Alan Didak is nearing a return from an adductor.

"Dids has trained really strongly over the last couple of weeks and I would have thought that he's ready to play. At which level, we'll work out during the week," Buckley said.

Buckley was pleased with the way the back six stood up, particularly with Ben Reid's performance on Jack Riewoldt and inexperienced defender Lachie Keeffe holding down a key role when Tarrant went off.

He was also happy with Alan Toovey.

He said they would prepare for a "dominant" Carlton outfit given the Blues' recent showings against Richmond and the Brisbane Lions.

"They've given us plenty to think about and we'll take the full six days to make sure that we're physically ready to go but prepared tactically as well."

Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.

Chris Tarrant is a $184,300 defender in Toyota AFL Dream Team. Register your team here