Adelaide is refusing to concede its season is over as dynamic defender Brodie Smith prepares to make his return from a knee reconstruction in Showdown 45.
Smith's presence would be a huge boost for the Crows, who must win their remaining four games and hope other results go their way to sneak into the finals.
The Crows (9-9) are two wins and percentage outside the top eight as a result of Saturday night's 13-point loss to Melbourne at Adelaide Oval.
While it appears unlikely
"The reality is we have to keep winning games of footy, and losing one tonight makes that job harder," Pyke said.
"There's probably very little wriggle room from here.
"We've got a massive game again next week.
"It's about recovering and getting ready to go again to win games of footy."
Smith is in the running for his first game of the season after another impressive performance in the SANFL on Saturday.
The 26-year-old has played the past two weeks in the state league having been sidelined for 10 months recovering from a torn ACL.
He had 32 disposals for the Crows in their 20-point loss to North Adelaide at Prospect Oval on Saturday.
"I watched Brodie play this afternoon and he moved really well," Pyke said.
"That was the key thing for me. We know the quality of the player, but his movement was really good.
"He didn't have any hesitation in terms of going back and twisting and turning and everything else, which is great for his confidence.
"He's one along with a couple of others we will look at."
Midfielders Patrick Wilson and Cam Ellis-Yolmen pressed their claims, racking up 42 and 41 disposals respectively, while veteran Sam Gibson reminded selectors of his talents, amassing 34 touches.
The Crows are also hopeful of regaining defender Tom Doedee from
The Crows will need to make at least one change, with winger Paul Seedsman set to be sidelined with a hamstring injury, while forward Mitch McGovern (AC joint) will be assessed.
The Crows started strongly against the Demons, skipping away to a 20-point
The visitors flipped the script to lead by 32 points at three-quarter time, but the Crows charged home, only to fall just short.
"Gawn was starting to get his hand on it a bit and we were starting to be a little bit reactive around there and we tried a few different things," Pyke said.
"The reality was, it was coming out of there too easily and that's putting pressure on us further down the ground.
"It's one of those
"To the players' credit, we fought on, but a fair bit of damage was done in that last 15 minutes (of the third quarter)."
