Thompson (calf) was a late withdrawal from the team that lost to North Melbourne last weekend, while Mackay has missed the past four games with a groin complaint.
Thompson and Mackay are likely to replace suspended pair Bernie Vince and Matthew Jaensch, but the Crows could also make some unforced changes, with second-round draft pick Jack Gunston in contention to make his AFL debut.
The Lions are sweating on the fitness of star forwards Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola, who flew to Adelaide earlier this week to receive treatment from a physiotherapist specialising in groin injuries.
Brown has declared himself fit to play against Adelaide, while Fevola remains in doubt with nagging groin and heel complaints.
Craig said Brown and Fevola’s availability would have an impact on the way the Crows structured up on Sunday.
“We’re not going to know everything about situation. It [selection] will be a little bit different [depending on who plays], but not a lot. We’re conscious of getting too big and we want to keep the younger guys going if we can,” Craig said on Friday.
“Jack Gunston comes into consideration because of Vince and Jaensch going out, one being a midfielder and the other being mainly a defender who could also play somewhere else. He could certainly come in.”
Forward Chris Knights will be out of the selection race for at least another two weeks after stalling in his recovery from plantar fasciitis.
Knights trained with the main group last week and was an outside chance to make his AFL comeback on Sunday, but developed soreness in his foot during Wednesday’s tough training session at Rostrevor College.
Craig said the left-footer was struggling to take the next step up to full, competitive training.
“Chris’ foot has improved significantly, but still not to a level where he can do the high-intensity, competitive work. He’s not able to do it to the level he’s going to have to, to play AFL footy, so we decided to give him another one to two weeks to see if we can get it even better again,” Craig said.
“He was operating at bout 90 per cent, but at Rostrevor the drills that we did were involuntary type drills and that’s where the real pressure comes on.”
