Hawthorn will embrace the chance to go toe-to-toe with Carlton's high-profile midfield as they attempt to spark an AFL upset.
The Hawks get a chance at the MCG on Sunday to respond to their thumping loss to Gold Coast when they tackle the Blues, who beat the Suns before the bye to cut short a troubling run of form.
Skipper Patrick Cripps and hard-running midfielder Sam Walsh will be crucial to Carlton, but Hawthorn have some strong on-ballers of their own, namely Will Day, Jai Newcombe and James Worpel.
"Their midfield obviously bats really deep - they've got a lot of really good players," Hawks coach Sam Mitchell told reporters.
"Walsh and Cripps are the two names that come up in lights
"But the more I scouted them this week, the more I realised how many important players are there.
"(Sam) Docherty, and (Blake) Acres and guys like that continue to be really strong with them and so consistent in the way they behave and go about things.
"We know Carlton at their best are a really potent side and we need to do what we can to limit them."
Mitchell stressed he needed a lift from his midfielders generally.
"We got well beaten in the midfield last week," he said.
"Unfortunately the last month our mids haven't been as strong as they were in the earlier part of the year."
Hawthorn have called upon veteran forward-midfielder Chad Wingard for his first game since round nine, while young midfielder Josh Ward and Fergus Greene have been recalled.
Day spent time in defence in James Sicily's suspension-enforced absence against the Suns but is unlikely to start there.
"He'll start as a midfielder but we know he's got great flexibility in his game and we can move him around as we need to at different times," Mitchell said.
"He's been playing a really important role for us through the middle of the field but he's a really strong player wherever he plays."
Young forward Jacob Koschitzke has been dropped after struggling to clunk marks and consistently convert, with the Hawks eyeing a different attacking mix.
"We haven't been able to hit the scoreboard," Mitchell said.
"Last week Gold Coast took 28 intercept marks, 22 of them were in our forward half.
"We've done a bit of work this week on our forward-50 entries as well as our contest work in front of the ball.
"... We need more contests in front of the ball."
