Taylor Walker has more to offer than he has shown so far this season, and should hit form in the coming weeks, Adelaide coach Don Pyke says.
Walker hasn’t been as dominant in the Crows' forward line this year compared to seasons past, largely due to a foot injury he sustained earlier this year.
Pyke said the 26-year-old skipper was past the injury but he was still working into match fitness.
He is yet to boot more than three goals in a single game – with 11 in total for the season – and was held goalless by Fremantle defender Alex Pearce last weekend.
Adelaide will take on the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night and Pyke said he expected Walker's output to increase.
"I mentioned three or four weeks ago [that] we were managing [him] as best we could with the foot … any player who's not able to train regularly, it takes a bit of a toll," Pyke said.
"He's through that now.
"I would expect he's going to get better and better from here.
"That said, in my eyes he's not playing poorly, he's probably just not playing to the standard which we would expect and we've seen in the past.
"But he's contributing in a lot of other ways and it's a matter now of him being really positive about what he can bring.
"I'm really confident we'll see an improvement from him in the coming weeks."
The Bulldogs will enter Saturday night's game keen to make up for last weekend's 16-point loss to ladder-topping North Melbourne.
Given the strength of the Dogs' defence this season – they lead the competition for fewest points conceded – Pyke would hope to see his skipper in fine touch.
Pyke said that last weekend's "arm-wrestle" against the Dockers would hold his side in good stead, even if the two sides play a different brand of football.
"They've been really impressive. They pushed both North [Melbourne] and Hawthorn in the two games they lost," he said.
"The numbers would suggest they're not conceding a lot of inside 50s and their scores against are low, so defensively they're really strong.
"Certainly at half-time [last week against Fremantle] it was a real arm-wrestle and I think we can expect another – I wouldn't say similar style because they're a bit different in terms of style – but the Bulldogs are very strong around the contest, very strong on the spread, so we're going to have to make sure we're playing at a really high level."
