ADELAIDE still has much to play for in Balfours Showdown XXXV despite its diminished finals hopes, says captain Nathan van Berlo.

The Crows slipped back to 12^th on the AFL ladder – three wins out of eighth spot – after being overrun by Fremantle at Patersons Stadium on Saturday night.

The skipper admitted it had been a frustrating 2013, but insisted there was still a lot to gain from Sunday’s Showdown and the rest of the season.

 "It's always nice to be the team on top in town … it's an added bonus if you're able to win this week," van Berlo said on Monday. 

"We've still certainly got a lot to play for … we want to make sure we finish off the year strongly and fight it out.

"Based on last week's results and the few weeks before that, with the performance of the team, we've been heading in the right direction."

Adelaide's season took another cruel twist on the weekend with forward Josh Jenkins suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Jenkins will have surgery to repair his fractured right leg, which will keep him sidelined for three months.

Jenkins joins Taylor Walker (knee) on the sidelines further compounding the loss of Kurt Tippett in the offseason. In form forward Lewis Johnston is almost certain to replace Jenkins after booting seven goals in the SANFL at the weekend.

Van Berlo said Johnston couldn't do any more to demand selection, but insisted superior accuracy was needed from every player if the Crows are to kick a winning score – the Crows wasted chance after chance against the Dockers, finishing with 11 behinds from 18 scores.

"We have to take our chances when we get them too and I think that was one of our downfalls on the weekend," he said.

 "We've shown in the past that when we haven't had the personnel up forward that we would have ideally liked … we've been able to manufacture ways of getting scores.

"[Johnston's] playing some outstanding footy in the SANFL for North [Adelaide] and kicked another seven goals yesterday. He's certainly putting his hand up for selection."

While Jenkins' injury is a significant blow, van Berlo was confident both Patrick Dangerfield and Ben Rutten would return to bolster the line-up. Utility Shaun McKernan will face a fitness test on his injured ankle later in the week.