Crows midfielder Brad Crouch is unlikely to play in Round One as the Club takes a conservative approach with his return from injury.

Crouch, 23, strained his hamstring in January and is making slower progress than expected.

As a precaution he will sit out the JLT Community Series.

Crows General Manager High Performance Matt Hass said the Club would take a long-term view.

“Given Brad’s injury history and young age we won’t rush his return,” Hass said.

“He won’t play in the pre-season competition as he recovers and we build up his training loads to match level.

“We expect Brad to make a full recovery and be an important player for the Club this season.”

Veteran Scott Thompson is continuing his recovery from a shoulder injury.

“Fortunately for ‘Thommo’ it’s an upper body injury which means he hasn't lost any conditioning,” Hass said.

“We will continue to build the strength up around his shoulder and look to re-introduce him to competitive work in the next few weeks.”

Luke Brown, Kyle Cheney, Alex Keath and Seedsman are on-track in their recovery from groin injuries and are all expected to play in the pre-season competition.