ADELAIDE is confident it can continue to defy its injury woes despite having its defensive wings clipped in round seven.

The Crows will take on Greater Western Sydney on Saturday without either of their premier half-back flankers Brodie Smith and Matthew Jaensch.

Match preview: Giants v Crows

Smith was knocked out against St Kilda last weekend and could miss a fortnight, while Jaensch ruptured the ACL in his left knee and will miss 12 months.

Coach Phil Walsh nominated David Mackay and Ricky Henderson as their replacements this week and insisted good teams always found a way to handle injury issues.

Henderson has plenty of defensive experience while Mackay was used across half-back last week after Jaensch was stretchered off in the third term against the Saints.

Walsh pointed to one of his former clubs in West Coast as an example of how key injuries could be managed - the Eagles have played without key defensive pair Erick Mackenzie and Mitchell Brown for all but one game this year yet sit second on the ladder.

"Smith we're hopeful is only going to [miss] a week or maybe at worst maybe two weeks, Jaensch was in great form … but we'll find someone," Walsh said.

"That's the great part about it … someone gets the opportunity to stand up.

"You plan for [injuries], you've got to make sure your list is well managed as well, so you can cover them.

"It's like West Coast, they've lost two of their key defenders but they've been able find a way and that's what good clubs do – that's what we've been trying to do."

Key forward Josh Jenkins (hip) return to the line-up this week though, and Walsh said his value couldn't be overstated.

As well as the help he'll offer Sam Jacobs in the ruck, Walsh said his presence in attack was crucial for the Crows to play a brand of football that will hold up under "finals like" pressure.

"The question on us at the moment is [that] our backline is still inexperienced … will that stand up in really big games? I'm confident," he said.

"The other person we've really missed is Josh Jenkins, that tall guy in our forward line, which has meant the last two weeks we've had to play a certain way, which maybe is not finals like.

"You need, in my opinion, to have that big forward that you can just kick the ball to, to get out of jail when you're under extreme pressure.

"He's a really important part of it."

The Crows expect a number of quality players to return to the senior line-up after their round 11 bye.

Brad Crouch (foot), Richard Douglas (foot) and Rory Sloane (cheekbone) could all be fit to take on Hawthorn in round 12.