Influential Adelaide defender Tom Doedee has delayed concussion and has been ruled out of this weekend’s match against the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat.
Doedee reported symptoms after Adelaide’s 52-point belting of St Kilda on Sunday.
The backman will be sidelined for the next 12 days but the Crows have a ready-made replacement in fellow defender Nick Murray.
Murray missed the win over the Saints after being concussed in Adelaide’s previous match.
“He’s perfect to come back in,” halfback Wayne Milera told reporters on Monday.
Milera dismissed any ongoing concern over triple club champion Rory Laird, who was substituted in the last quarter after being shirtfronted.
“Speaking to him after the game, he wasn’t too worried about anything,” Milera said.
The Crows rose to eighth spot, replacing Carlton, and a return to the finals for the first time since they lost the grand final to Richmond in 2017 is squarely on the agenda.
“There has always been that belief within us, it’s just being able to bring that consistently every week,” Milera said.
“We have got another challenge this week with the Dogs, another top eight team.
“We want to really start to be a team that consistently brings it every week and that will help us get to where we want to be.”
Adelaide make the trip to Ballarat for Saturday afternoon’s fixture against the sixth-placed Bulldogs after kicking their highest score under fourth-year coach Matthew Nicks, 19.7 (121).
And while the Crows topped the ton for a fourth time this year, Milera said restricting the Saints to 69 points was most pleasing.
“Just our ability to keep them to a low score,” he said.
“Then we were able to challenge them off the back of that and really go at them and put up a good score ourselves.
“Everyone played their role. There really wasn’t any passengers at all.”