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Adelaide remain hopeful co-captain Rory Sloane will overcome a hamstring strain in time to play against GWS at Adelaide Oval.
Adelaide coach Don Pyke could have almost every player on his list to choose from ahead of Saturday night's pivotal clash with GWS, with star midfielders Rory Sloane and Matt Crouch pushing to play.
A hamstring injury meant Sloane was unable to take part in the second half of last weekend's stunning two-point win over Melbourne in Darwin, but Crouch is nearing a full recovery from a hip contusion suffered in round eight.
On Tuesday, Crows performance manager Matt Hass rated Sloane "a good chance of being available" after scans showed he had suffered a low-grade strain.
If the pair pass last-minute fitness tests it would leave Adelaide in the rare and highly enviable position of having just one player, knee victim Tom Doedee, on their injury list at the midway point of the season.
Adding to Pyke's happy selection headache, first-choice ruckman Sam Jacobs and important veteran Richard Douglas performed well at SANFL level last weekend as they push their cases for a return from injury layoffs.
"It's very rare that you get everyone available and in form that warrants being picked," Pyke said.
"We've had guys in the last three or four weeks who've had good enough form but haven't been able to get in through lack of opportunity and that's a healthy spot to be in.
"But we've got to get the right balance and sometimes that's not necessarily the best 22 players, it's the guys who can play the roles that we need."
In what Pyke labelled "a massive game", the coach will need all of the weapons he can get at his disposal at Adelaide Oval to overcome the second-placed Giants team in red-hot form.
The Crows, currently clinging to eighth spot, then back up against fellow top-eight side Richmond at the same venue just five days later before enjoying their bye.
"It's probably our biggest game of the year in terms of the challenge," Pyke said of GWS.
"It's an important fortnight for us.
"We're 6-5 and got away with a win on Saturday night. There's a big difference between going in (to the bye) at 8-5 or something else.
"They're two games in front of our home crowd and our aspiration is to be higher up the ladder.
"It's time for us to come out against GWS and put a really strong performance in on the field and get a win."
