Captain Taylor Walker has been ruled out of Adelaide’s clash with Essendon because of an ankle injury.

Walker, 26, came from the ground in the last quarter of the Club’s loss to Geelong on Saturday night after experiencing ankle soreness.

Scans cleared Walker of any serious damage, but coach Don Pyke said the forward hadn’t recovered enough to take his place in the team at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

“Unfortunately, Taylor’s not going to be available this week,” Pyke said on Thursday.

“That ankle has pulled up a bit sorer than we’d hoped.

“We’re hoping it’s only going to be a one-week thing.”

It will be the first time Walker, who has played 55 consecutive games, has missed since returning from a knee reconstruction in early 2014.

Pyke dismissed suggestions the week off was timely for the skipper, as the Crows prepare to play the bottom-ranked Bombers.

“We weren’t really looking for an enforced rest for him (Walker),” Pyke said.

“In the ideal world, we want all our players playing. I think I’ve been saying all year that continuity is important. We clearly manage our players but, for me, playing and playing well builds both resilience and confidence.”

The Crows selectors will decide whether to bring in a like-for-like replacement for Walker, or shuffle the team around to create another scoring avenue.

“We’ve got some options there,” Pyke said.

“We’ve got match committee coming up and we’ll discuss what that looks like.”

In better news, All Australian defender Daniel Talia (corked hip) completed Adelaide’s main training session on Thursday and is expected to play against Essendon.