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Nathan Buckley believes his Collingwood AFL squad has the depth and connection to fill holes left by injuries to key players.
Nathan Buckley says Collingwood will simply have to "plug and play" in Tuesday's AFL clash with Adelaide after losing another three key players to injury.
The Magpies ended a two-match losing spin with a gritty nine-point win over Sydney at the Gabba on Thursday night despite terrible inaccuracy in front of goal.
But they lost senior players Adam Treloar (hamstring) and Will Hoskin-Elliott (knee) in the process, as well as impressive young defender Isaac Quaynor to a nasty shin gash.
All are set to miss multiple matches, joining stars such as Scott Pendlebury, Jordan De Goey and Jeremy Howe on the sidelines.
Buckley said the Magpies had planned to "aggressively rotate" their players through the congested fixture and said Treloar was one player they would have "looked after" next week anyway.
The latest injuries could open the door for Chris Mayne, Darcy Cameron and Mark Keane, who were all left out of the Swans match, while Travis Varcoe missed for undisclosed personal reasons.
"We continue to rotate and believe that we've got a squad that can come in and play that type of football (like we did against Sydney)," Buckley said.
"If we play in that sort of shape then we can really plug and play.
"Clearly that's our challenge; to keep coming up with a style of football that can be replicated even with the changes that we're going to have to find over the next couple of weeks."
Collingwood are two games into a stretch of five fixtures in just 22 days and have a short four-day break, plus travel, leading into the Crows clash at Adelaide Oval.
"We're up for anything, we're ready to do whatever it takes," Buckley said.
"We've had that attitude through the first lockdown period and understand the season is going to have twists and turns that you need to be able to handle.
"We're more than confident that we have the group and the connection that can put our best foot forward as we go ahead."
