Crows midfielder Patrick Dangerfield has declared himself as certain starter for Sunday’s clash with St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.
Dangerfield confirmed he had a minor ankle complaint following Adelaide’s loss to Sydney last weekend, but said he wasn’t in any doubt for the game against the Saints.
“Absolutely (I’ll play). I think it’s very much a storm in a tea cup. The ankle is fine and I’m looking forward to Sunday,” Dangerfield told FIVEaa on Thursday morning.
“It won’t be an issue.”
The Crows will be aiming for their first win of the season when they tackle the resurgent Saints.
Dangerfield, who is sharing the acting captaincy duties with Rory Sloane, said the leadership group had focused on maintaining a positive attitude during the Club’s tough start.
“When you’re losing and losing the way we have, sometimes the morale can dip because you’re disappointed with the way that you’re playing,” he said.
“The key messages for us as a leadership group are to keep instilling the things we do well, focusing on those and trying to remain upbeat. The season isn’t over. It’s only Round Three.
“We’ve got plenty of football in us and if we can tweak a few things I’m confident we can play some good footy and start winning games.”
In contrast, St Kilda has started the year strongly, claiming wins against Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney and putting in a good performance against West Coast in Perth last weekend.
Dangerfield said the Crows would have to be competitive for longer to overcome the Saints.
“The football St Kilda has played has been absolutely outstanding at times,” he said.
“We need to start well and finish well, which we haven’t done so far this season. The disappointing thing for us and our fans is that we haven’t been competitive because (our losses) have been 50-point losses. We’re certainly not accepting that and our fans aren’t.
“We’ve played some good footy but it’s really only been for a quarter or a quarter-and-a-half. If you want to compete at the top level, it needs to be for a lot longer than that. We’ll try to sustain the things we’ve done well.
“When we do them well, we score and play good footy.”
Adelaide’s 25-man squad to play St Kilda will be released on afc.com.au at 5:55pm (SA time) on Thursday. The final 22 will be named on late-Friday afternoon.
Scot Thompson (corked thigh), Sam Kerridge (eye) and Mitch Grigg (adductor) are all expected to be named.
