Carlton interim coach Josh Fraser is keeping grounded and says his side still has “a long way to go” following a fourth-straight win under his guard.
The Blues fought hard for a five-point triumph over a tough Essendon opponent at the MCG on Sunday night after having to come from 23 points down in the second term.
The Blues have now defeated top-five sides, Western Bulldogs and Geelong, along with Port Adelaide and Essendon in a strong turnaround since former coach Michael Voss departed after seven consecutive losses.
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The Blues are now 5-8 and just one win outside the top 10.
“I haven’t stopped to think too much about it (being 4-0 as coach) to be honest,” Fraser said following the win.
“I said when this opportunity arose that we were going to be very process driven around what our Monday to Friday looks like and then give ourselves the best chance to perform on a weekend.
“We’ve seen some big growth but we are aware that we got a long way to go.
“I haven’t looked too far ahead. I haven’t stopped to reflect too much other than what learnings can we take forward and how we get to work.
“I’m proud of the group with the inroads we’ve made, but again, we just had a team meeting then and we are all aware of the work we got to do and we are not a finish product yet.”
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The Blues had a sluggish start against the bottom-placed Dons before kicking seven goals to four in the second half to come away 10.12 (72) to 10.7 (67) victors.
Fraser said it wasn’t his team’s best performance.
“I didn’t think we played particularly well tonight and all credit to Essendon and the pressure they applied,” he said.
“But I thought we were able to hang in long enough and take some important moments in the second half.
“We challenged ourselves around work rate at half time and our midfield getting to work a bit more and it looked a bit better in the second half.”
The Blues have a bye before travelling to take on GWS and then returning home to face West Coast at Marvel Stadium.