Adelaide defender Daniel Talia is on track to play against Richmond at Adelaide Oval on Sunday, says coach Don Pyke.
Talia came from the ground holding his hamstring in the opening minutes of the Club’s win over Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium last weekend.
Subsequent scans cleared the All-Australian backman of damage and he trained with the team at Adelaide Oval on Thursday morning.
"The way he trained shows he is on track to play," Crows coach Don Pyke said after training.
"When he first presented, our doctors thought it was a hamstring (injury), but the scan was clear, so it might be some tendinitis he was suffering.
"He cooled off with the ceremony for Anzac Day last week, and then when he went to go, he felt something and they treated it and it settled down really well.
"We'll see how he pulls up in the morning, but at this stage he's on track to play."
The news isn't as good for young midfielder Riley Knight, who also finished the game against Gold Coast on the interchange.
"We will take a cautious approach with Riley this week," Pyke said.
"He's still got some awareness when he's running.
"The general feeling is we're best to give that a spell this week and get him ready for the following week."
Defender Jake Kelly is available after recovering from an eye injury, while forward Josh Jenkins completed training, including contact work, to put himself in the mix for his first game since Round Two.
Jenkins has been sidelined since he sustained a rib injury against Hawthorn at the MCG.
"Josh was able to train today fully, again we'll see how he pulls up tomorrow morning, but he's certainly getting closer and closer to playing," Pyke said on Thursday.
"There's a balance of the side, there's the volume of work he's been able to do in the last four or five weeks, but clearly he's in our best 22."
The Tigers got the edge on the Crows with a 19-point victory when they faced off in the JLT Community Series at Etihad Stadium.
Since then, both teams have started the season brilliantly with five straight wins to kick off the year.
"We're both coming into game with good, winning form, playing good footy, so it sets it up to be a cracking game of footy," Pyke said.
"They might defend us slightly different than other teams have, so we've got to be ready to adapt and shift and change if we need to.
"Sometimes we're able to move the ball quickly, and that's our preferred method, but that won't always be the case.
"The challenge will be to move the ball in a different way to still move it with speed, but still take it forward.
"We'll see what opens up on Sunday."
