RETURNING Adelaide forward Chris Knights has thrown his support behind temporary skipper Patrick Dangerfield, labeling him the perfect choice to lead the club.

Dangerfield will captain the Crows for the first time in Saturday's NAB Cup match against the Brisbane Lions in Alice Springs, in the absence of skipper Nathan van Berlo, vice-captain Scott Thomson and deputy vice-captain Ben Rutten.

"When you're growing up as a kid, just to get your first game of AFL football is a big honour, but to captain a club for the first time is great and there's probably no one more suited for the role," Knights said.

"Everyone's going to get behind him and I'm sure he and his family are quite excited."

Knights said Dangerfield - a tough, uncompromising player on the field - is also a brilliant leader off the park as well.

"That's the beauty about Danger - he's quite inspirational in the way he goes about it on and off the field," he said.

"He also provides a lot of leadership in terms of mentoring roles and giving younger and senior blokes advice at the same time."

Knights flew to Alice Springs with the team on Friday after missing last weekend's triple-header because of a strained hamstring.

"It was a little bit disappointing when I was only a couple of weeks out [from a return] and I strained a hamstring but besides that I haven't really missed a beat," he said.

The talented forward was continually hampered by injury in 2011 and eventually had hip surgery in August. Now Knights is hoping for a big 2012.
 
"I had the surgery at the end of last season so I was able to make sure my training wasn't hindered," he said.

"I've put a bit of pressure on myself to step up this year and I'm sure that as a more senior player at the football club that's expected as well."

Conditions for Saturday's clash are predicted to be extremely wet, but Knights said there was still plenty to gain from the contest, even if it became a slog.

"We're playing four, 25-minute quarters I think, so in terms of conditioning it's going to be quite heavy so we're going to get a lot out of that," he said.

"It's not going to be free-flowing, pretty football, but at the same time footy's played in the rain and we're going to go up there and get the most out of it.

"It's not ideal, but I spent the last two weeks in the pool rehabbing, so I'll just bring my goggles and see how we go."

Harry Thring covers Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.

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