ADELAIDE coach Neil Craig says he expects it to be business as usual for St Kilda this weekend, despite their tumultuous week off the field.

On Wednesday, two Saints players were questioned and subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing over their relationship with a pregnant Victorian schoolgirl.

The Crows were forced to deal with a scandal of their own last week, with three players - Bernie Vince, Graham Johncock and Matthew Jaensch - suspended for breaching the team’s training and preparation standards.

Craig conceded the off-field incidents were a distraction for the players and coaches, but said it was possible the schoolgirl sex scandal could galvanise the St Kilda team.

“It (the off-field incident) is not ideal and it takes you away from doing what you normally do because you need to address it and it’s a priority,” Craig said on Friday.

“I don’t even want to try and predict how St Kilda will handle the situation, but they’re a very mature club and have mature players so you would expect them to be business as usual.

“And our response last week, whether or not it was because of that (off-field drama), was really good in conjunction with what was happening during the week ... so who knows?”

For the first time this year the Crows will actually have some options at the selection table.

Andrew McLeod’s quest to play 350 AFL games remains intact, after the star veteran shrugged off a nagging knee injury to complete training on Thursday.

Johncock (AC joint) also got through the session unscathed and is likely to serve his club-imposed suspension with the Port Adelaide Magpies this weekend.

Midfielder Brad Symes (knee) made a successful return to the SANFL last weekend, but is likely to play another one or two games with Central District before being recalled to the Crows side.

Young players Rory Sloane, Tony Armstrong and Daniel Talia also displayed good form in the SANFL last week and Craig said he welcomed the internal competition.

“Rory Sloane has played three good games now. Tony Armstrong travels with us and misses out on an SANFL game. He plays against North Melbourne and plays a reasonable game, but gets omitted.

“He then goes back to North Adelaide and plays another good game- that’s the sort of pressure that you want to underpin a bit more internal competition that we haven’t had ... it’s a good problem to have for a change,” Craig said.

However, the news wasn’t all good for the Crows on Thursday, with forward Chris Knights (plantar fasciitis) and rookie defender Will Young (knee) both undergoing surgery.

Knights, who has managed just three games this season, will miss at least another six weeks, while Young will be sidelined for a month, but neither will be placed on the club’s long-term injury list.

Adelaide played its best game of the year against the battling Brisbane Lions at AAMI Stadium last weekend, but Craig said it would be a challenge for his side to replicate that good form against the improving Saints.

“Over the last couple of weeks I reckon some of St Kilda’s structures have returned to what they would normally be and their style of play against West Coast last week was a bit more typical of St Kilda,” Craig said.

“The clear difference for us (against the Lions) was our competitive mindset and [ability to win the] contested ball, but it remains to be seen whether it’s engrained. That’s going to be a time issue and I guess we’ll find out.”