Buckley feels for Ratten

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Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says he can sympathise with Brett Ratten despite being focussed on heaping more misery on the embattled Carlton coach.

Ratten has come under heavy fire this year, and after a blistering start to the season the Blues have dropped six of their past seven matches to sit a game outside the eight.

Speaking ahead of their Peter Mac Cup showdown at the MCG on Friday night, Buckley - whose Pies have won 10 straight games since being demolished by the Blues in Round 3 - said he feels for Ratten but is expecting a switched-on opponent.

"There's no doubt Brett and Carlton are under a bit of pressure at the moment," Buckley said.

"That's the industry you're in, it's always outlined. There's nothing good about a headline that's just middling - it's always the worst things have been or the best things have been.

"That's the existence we are in and externally they seem to be handling it okay.

"And clearly they want to make a stand on Friday night."

Buckley said the Pies would be looking to get back at Carlton after their 10-goal defeat in Round 3, although he conceded injuries had seen the Blues' from dip since then.

"Clearly Carlton, last time we played, were very good and we were poor and that's where the result came from," he said.

"And we want to be better than we were and clearly want to improve on our performances of the last couple of weeks.

"I think Carlton would carry a fair bit of confidence coming into this week, given that (Round 3) performance.

"Their recent form hasn't been at that level, the personnel comes and goes.

"Obviously you can have different runs in an imbalanced draw and fixture, and you can have some runs against opposition that suits you and some runs against teams that don't.

"That's the reality of the game, there's plenty you can't control but you come back down to what you can as a team and that will be a focus for us."

Buckley faces a pleasant selection problem this weekend, with Scott Pendlebury , Chris Tarrant and even Alan Didak all on the verge of being recalled, while Irishman Marty Clarke was outstanding in the VFL on Sunday.

"Didak is probably another week away and thankfully the rest of our list is looking fairly healthy," Buckley said.

"We've got some selection dilemmas with blokes in form that are incumbent, young players that are incumbent that are playing really well and obviously some more experienced senior players who are getting into shape, so it's a good problem to have."

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