IF ADELAIDE beats Fremantle on Saturday night, coach Brenton Sanderson says the Crows will be back in the finals race.
The club narrowly kept its dream for a finals berth alive last weekend with a come-from-behind two-point victory over Geelong.
Adelaide is two wins out of the eight with five games left.
Midfielder Matthew Wright told AFL.com.au it was a "much needed" boost for the players and Sanderson agreed, claiming their spirits had been lifted.
"If we win tomorrow we're right back in it – but first of all you've got to get the win," Sanderson said.
"Hopefully last weekend gives us a confidence boost and we can go over there in the right frame of mind.
"We've had some games where we've felt we've been right in them and lost … West Coast, Hawthorn, Fremantle earlier in the season.
"For our young boys to come back from 30 points down did give us a bit of a spark around the place."
Shaun McKernan will make his return to the line-up having served his two-game suspension for striking West Coast's Brad Sheppard in round 16.
Sanderson had a quiet word to the forward on Friday about his mentality against the Dockers.
"I asked him at training this morning, 'what's your one key word this week?' and he said 'aggressive' – I said 'but controlled'," he said.
"That's him playing on the edge and we know last time that spilt over and that was an undisciplined act and we've missed him the last two weeks.
"Structurally it just looks like we're a better side with him in the mix."
Rookie Kyle Hartigan will make his AFL debut, called up to replace injured veteran Ben Rutten.
The big-bodied 22-year-old was seen as a like-for-like replacement for Rutten, beating Luke Thompson and Sam Shaw for the vacant position.
Sanderson said his selection meant Adelaide would field its youngest-ever back six.
Ricky Henderson will be the most experienced player in the Crows' defence with 53 games under his belt.
Rory Laird and Luke Brown have both played fewer than 20 games, while Daniel Talia and Brodie Smith have played just 48 games each.
"I'm almost certain that this is the youngest back six the Crows have ever put on the field with obviously Rutten out," Sanderson said.
"You pick a 22 which you're expecting to win, it's nice when you can pick your best 22 that's available and they're all quite young.
"It means short term and long term our footy club's in a pretty good position."
The coach admitted his young side faced one of the toughest road trips in modern football against the best defensive unit in the game.
Rather than succumb to Fremantle's press though, he hoped his players would attack.
"The sides that go east-west against them are the ones that have the most difficulty," he said.
"We'll do our best to take the game on within reason – you've got to respect the best [defensive] team in the competition.
"We know the heat's coming, we've just got to make sure we can go at it with a bit of poise and composure."
Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL _Harry.
