ADELAIDE will likely have to contain North Melbourne spearhead Ben Brown without key defender Daniel Talia at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

However, the Crows could regain winger Paul Seedsman (hamstring) and speedy forward Riley Knight (knee).

Talia missed last Saturday night's 14-point loss to Greater Western Sydney in Canberra with a corked calf sustained in the previous week's Showdown 45 win over Port Adelaide.

He also played the previous three games with a fractured shin and has been hampered by bone bruising in his leg.

"On further investigation, we've discovered some bone bruising in the fibula," Crows general manager of high performance Matt Hass told afc.com.au.

"He's been slow to get going and needs a fair bit to go right this week to get up for the weekend."

Talia would have had first crack at containing Brown, who shares the lead in the Coleman Medal with Richmond star Jack Riewoldt with 58 goals for the season.

Fellow key defender Kyle Hartigan won't be there either after it was confirmed he would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

That leaves Alex Keath, NAB AFL Rising Star contender Tom Doedee and Kyle Cheney as the Crows' tall defenders.

In a boost, Seedsman looks on track to return after missing the past two games with a low-grade hamstring strain.

The 26-year-old, who is out of contract at season's end, has averaged 20.4 disposals in his 17 games this season.

"Seedo's been going great, it was fairly low-grade to begin with so he's done plenty of training," Hass said.

"He will join the main session this week and if everything goes well there we expect him to be available."

Knight has played only six games this season due to hamstring and knee injuries, but is important with his forward pressure and as a tagger.

"Unfortunately for Knight, the knee didn't progress as we expected last week and therefore he didn't quite get enough training in to justify selection, but it's progressed well over the weekend," Hass said.

"We're hopeful he trains with the main group this week and puts his hand up for selection."