Crows forward Ned McHenry will miss Sunday’s clash with Essendon at Adelaide Oval.

Senior coach Matthew Nicks confirmed the 20-year-old would be managed ahead of the Rounds 9-12 fixture compression.

“Young player, hard in-and-under, attacks the footy. He’s a bit bruised and battered, nothing medical,” Nicks told reporters at West Lakes on Friday morning. 

“We’ve got a challenge coming up over the next six rounds where they pile on top of each other, so we wanted to make sure he was right to go and not trying to push through too much soreness.

“We felt like it was about the right time for Ned, so we’ll freshen him up a bit.”

Fellow small forward Lachlan Murphy will be named as McHenry’s direct replacement.

“Small forward for small forward. Essendon are very strong across half back, a lot of damaging running players across there, so we felt taking a small out that was going to help us on the ground, we needed to put one in,” Nicks said.

Nicks said the Crows may make “one more change”, but veteran Bryce Gibbs wasn’t in the mix despite being named on the extended interchange.

“Bryce won’t play this week, but he’s in the squad,” Nicks said. 

“Same as last week, he’s pushing for a spot. There’s a fair bit coming in the next two or three weeks where there’s going to be some management we haven’t seen before. 

“Obviously he’s sitting right in that spot at the moment, he’s going to help the group.”

The Crows will announce their final team at 4.30pm (ACST) on Friday.