CROWS coach Neil Craig is confident James Sellar can recapture his impressive NAB Cup form when he makes his AFL debut against North Melbourne on Saturday night.

Sellar, 19, burst onto the scene in Dubai with a three-goal-haul against Collingwood, but fell behind fellow youngster Kurt Tippett in the pecking order for round one.

The selection of Sellar, who has received limited game time in the SANFL, surprised many outside of West Lakes, but Craig said the talented forward was ready to slip into Adelaide’s structure.

“I don’t agree James’ selection is from left-field and I guess that’s because we watch him more closely than the media, as we should,” Craig said.

“I really liked his pre-season. He crossed a lot of bridges in this pre-season as distinct from the previous one, where he was very, very poor and sub-AFL standard.

“I certainly saw some signs in the NAB Cup that indicated to me that he’d made some real significant improvement."

Sellar, who was Adelaide’s first pick in the 2006 NAB AFL Draft, has been chosen as a quicker and more athletic replacement for the omitted Ken McGregor.

“I pick James with confidence and I’m actually really looking forward to him playing,” Craig said.

“He gives us a slightly different dimension up forward and he certainly puts some pressure on Kenny McGregor.

“James has got a good feel for people around him, in terms of player awareness, and he’s good on the lead. He’s very quick for a guy his size and he’s got real talent in terms of taking the ball and kicking.

"From what I've seen when he has been on the ground [for SANFL side Glenelg], I’ve been very pleased.”

On Friday, Adelaide was forced to make a third change to the side that defeated Carlton last week, with midfielder Brad Symes succumbing to an ankle injury.

Symes will join the injured Ben Rutten (back) on the sidelines and will be replaced by Jarrhan Jacky who comes in for his second game.

“Brad did a bit yesterday and we were pretty confident that he would come up. But obviously what we did aggravated the injury a bit,” Craig said.

“He did a bit more training this morning, but not a lot because it was too sore. Brad misses out and Jarrhan Jacky will come in.

“Brad and Ben have both been good players for us so far. Brad has been really good in the midfield and Ben, well we know about his form, so they both leave significant holes in our side, but we have to cover them and we will.”