ADELAIDE defenders Richard Tambling and Michael Doughty are on track to play against Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night after completing training on Tuesday.

Doughty hasn't played since suffering a badly corked thigh in the Crows' win over Hawthorn in round one, while Tambling sat out the Showdown loss to Port Adelaide with an ankle injury.

Utility Scott Stevens, who is suffering from an undiagnosed illness, only joined in part of the session and will need to train later in the week to prove his fitness.

Key defender Luke Thompson also missed training after injuring his ankle on debut against the Power last weekend.

Thompson was using crutches to get around on Tuesday, but was optimistic of playing against the Blues.

"It was a weird one because I didn't roll my ankle or do anything like that. I had scans yesterday and they were all clear," he said.

"My ankle just started to get pretty sore in the second quarter and locked up a bit, but I taped it up and pushed through the rest of the game.

"At the moment it's not too bad. I didn't train today as such, but hopefully I'll run tomorrow and train fully on Thursday. I should be right for the weekend."

Thompson made his debut alongside 21-year-old midfielder Matthew Wright.

Wright's dreams of playing in the AFL were put on hold four years ago when he was viciously hit in the head with a bottle outside a party.

The North Adelaide junior suffered brain bruising and a fractured skull in the unprovoked attack, but fortunately made a full recovery and was cleared to return to football.

He spent two full seasons playing in the SANFL before being rookie listed by the Crows at the end of 2009.

Despite waiting years to get his opportunity, Wright said things moved quickly after he was named as an emergency for the clash with Port Adelaide.

"It was all pretty surreal. We were in doing weights and Craigy [coach Neil Craig] pulled me aside and informed me that I was going to be upgraded to the senior list and that a few boys had to get through training [to play]," Wright said.



"At training Hendo [Ricky Henderson] went down with a knock to his head and Tambling unfortunately rolled his ankle, which opened the door for me to come into the team."

Wright started the game as a substitute and wasn't introduced into the contest until the third quarter.

"It was a bit different starting as the sub, but you've got to stay focused because you don't know when you'll be coming on," he said.

"I spoke to a couple of guys who had already done it [started as sub], in Brodie Martin and Brodie Smith. They said to stay relaxed and it wasn't bad watching for the first quarter and a bit, but after that it got a bit tougher."

Wright observed that his teammates were "pretty flat" in the rooms at half time on Saturday night, despite holding a narrow nine-point lead.

The Power kicked five unanswered goals in the third quarter to snatch the lead and Wright said it was important his side learned how to halt an opposition team's momentum.

"Most sides can play pretty good footy for a quarter or two, but it's the sides that can respond when you get challenged [that are the best]," he said.

"Port challenged us in the second half of the second quarter and we didn't respond the way we would've liked."

In other injury news, utility Jared Petrenko has been cleared of serious damage to his foot and is expected to play within two weeks.

Katrina Gill covers Adelaide news for
afl.com.au. Follow her on Twitter: @AFL_KatrinaGill