Adelaide coach Don Pyke says the Crows are likely to field a younger side in their second NAB Challenge match if his senior players manage decent game time against West Coast on Sunday.

The Crows named most of their best players for the clash with the Eagles, including skipper Taylor Walker, fellow forward Eddie Betts and two-time Club Champion Scott Thompson.

Pyke said that, if all went to plan at Unley Oval on Sunday, the Club's less experienced players would get a chance to strut their stuff against the Dockers before he'd try to settle on a best 22 in the final game.

But while he insisted he'd have an eye focused on round one through the NAB Challenge, Pyke said he wanted his players to adopt winning habits.

"If they're keeping score, I like to win," Pyke said.

"Whilst it's not going to be the sole focus, I think it's a habit I'd like the club to get into.

"We'll juggle that balance [between experience and youth], we'll see how we get through Sunday's game first … we might play slightly younger in NAB 2.

"The last game pretty much becomes a bit of a dress rehearsal for the start of the season."

Pyke also confirmed there was no serious injury issues with Brad Crouch, despite adductor soreness keeping him out of Sunday's game. 

Crouch, 22, dominated in the Club's internal trial last Friday and would have pushed for selection this week had the game counted for premiership points. 

“Brad’s got a little adductor (soreness) at the moment,” Pyke said.

“If it was a home and away game, he’d probably be pushing for selection but, as I’ve said all along, it’s a no-risk (policy) with Brad. I expect him to be back and ready to go in NAB (Challenge game) 2."

Crouch’s former West Adelaide teammate Jono Beech, who also impressed in Friday’s match simulation, wasn’t considered for selection this week because of a slight hamstring injury.

Adelaide has included six new faces, Paul Seedsman, Dean Gore, Troy Menzel, Wayne Milera, Mitch McGovern and Harry Dear, in a squad of 29 to play the Eagles on Sunday. The squad will be trimmed to 26 on Saturday ahead of the opening bounce at 1:35pm (local time).

Pyke indicated that McGovern was likely to make his AFL Crows debut this weekend.

McGovern, 21, battled an Achilles complaint in his first year at West Lakes, limited to only 11 SANFL appearances. Pyke said the athletic forward, who kicked four goals in the Club’s match simulation last week, was benefiting from greater continuity of training.

“Mitch has been able to get his body in a better position,” he said.

“He’s been really diligent with his rehab and his recovery, and his maintenance program. He’s now putting himself forward for selection. We’ll get a look at him, probably, on Sunday to see what he can bring as a point of difference.

“He’s a nice-sized forward who has pretty good speed. He kicks the ball well and has pretty good game sense. It’s a good package to have, but now it’s about getting some experience of playing as well.”

Pyke has also been “really pleased” with trade period recruit Troy Menzel’s approach to the pre-season.

Menzel, 21, has worked hard on his endurance since starting full training in December.

“Troy came (to the Club) on the back of no pre-season for probably three years at Carlton (because of injury), so we identified early that we needed to work on his conditioning,” Pyke said.

“Troy really recognised that and embraced that. He’s done a mountain of work and he’s improving – that’s all we ask of him. That will get him rewarded. It’s about his work ethic and at the moment he hasn’t missed a beat in that regard.

“We want him to improve and he’s up for it, which is great.”

Pyke admitted to having a few nerves ahead of his first game as Senior Coach, but said he was looking forward to putting months of planning and hard work into action.

“I’m more excited than anything else,” he said.

“We’ve come together as a coaching group and playing group and we get a chance to get a test against a Grand Finalist from last year. 

"I’m excited to see how we’re going to play and working with these guys to see how good we can become.”

The weather forecast for Adelaide on Sunday is 37 degrees Celsius.

The AFL is likely to make a call on what provisions will be put in place for the match in the next 24-48 hours.

“The discussion would be around longer breaks at quarter time, half time (and three-quarter time). I think there’s a possibility they may look at the quarter lengths as well,” Pyke said.

“Obviously, player safety and wellbeing is pivotal. That said, we’ve got to find a balance between that and making sure we get enough minutes and game time to be able to prepare our guys appropriately for the start of the year.”

About 5,500 tickets/member registrations have been processed for Sunday’s game. 

More ticketing information is available here.