ADELAIDE is set to be boosted by the long-awaited return of forward Tom Lynch for Friday night's crucial clash with Essendon at Adelaide Oval.

The Crows are also confident defenders Luke Brown (back soreness), Alex Keath (managed) and Brodie Smith (illness) will be right to face the Bombers.

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Lynch has missed the past five games with a calf tendon injury, but completed main training on Wednesday to suggest he's on track to play his first match since round 11.

However, Crows coach Don Pyke was reluctant to guarantee Lynch's return given the frustrating nature of his injury.

"He is a chance," Pyke said. "He's done full training for a couple of weeks, just ticking off the last little bit.

Gun forward Tom Lynch celebrates a goal against the Swans. Picture: AFL Photos 

"He's now pretty confident, we'll see how he pulls up and take it from there.

"He's a very good player and he was in very good form before he went out of the team.

"Hopefully everything pulls up well and we can get him back in there."

Brown – who will most likely get first crack at stopping Bombers livewire Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti – left the session early with a sore back, with referred pain in his hamstring.

"He's got a bit of a tight back, so they're pretty confident that will settle down," Pyke said.

"He did the warm-up and was feeling a bit tight.

"It wasn't worth pushing him on, he'll have a run tomorrow and we expect he'll be fine."

Keath left the track early to manage his training loads on the back of a six-day break, while he's also had knee and ankle issues in the past fortnight.

A sore Alex Keath leaves the field during the R16 Showdown. Picture: AFL Photos

Smith – who has been injected into the midfield to add outside run - has a virus and completed a light workout at the club's training base at West Lakes.

"He's another who should be fine for Friday night," Pyke said.

It's an important encounter for both clubs, with the Crows and Bombers sitting seventh and eighth on the ladder respectively and separated only by percentage.

The Crows are coming off a comfortable 95-point thumping of Gold Coast, but will face a much sterner test against the Bombers.

"We're playing a side that has won five of its past six games and is one of the in-form teams in the competition," Pyke said.

"Regardless of the result last week, we went up there to improve on the way we've been playing and get a good result, which we did.

"We get Essendon this week and we understand the stakes are pretty big."