ADELAIDE'S injury curse has claimed another victim with defender Wayne Milera in doubt for next week's massive Showdown with Port Adelaide.
Milera didn't play in the second half of the Crows' 55-point victory against Carlton at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
He will be assessed early next week, but Crows coach Don Pyke said it was too early to say it was a hamstring injury.
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"It's behind the knee, so we're going to get that one assessed," Pyke said.
"It's a bit early to say it's a hamstring at this point, so we'll wait and see with the assessment during the week.
"It's in the back of the knee area, it's in the tendon.
"Clearly at half-time they (the medical staff) got him out, and got him running after half-time and felt it wasn't worth taking the risk at that point to push him on, so he didn't play the last half."
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The Crows have had a shocking run with hamstring injuries in the early part of the season.
Captain Taylor Walker, reigning best and fairest Matt Crouch, All-Australian forward Eddie Betts, defenders Kyle Hartigan and Kyle Cheney, small forward Lachlan Murphy and experienced midfielder Sam Gibson have all had hamstring issues this year.
Milera – the No.11 overall pick in the 2015 NAB AFL Draft – was coming off a career-best game in last week's win over Gold Coast as he adjusted to his new role across half-back.
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He loomed as the ideal replacement for the injured Brodie Smith, who is aiming to return from a knee reconstruction in August in the run into the finals.
While Milera is in doubt to face the Power, the Crows could regain Walker, vice-captain Rory Sloane – who has missed the past three games with a strained foot – and pacy forward Riley Knight, who was "managed" for the win over the Blues.
"Riley's a chance to come back for next week along with Taylor and Rory," Pyke said.
"We'll assess them during the week.
"Rory's getting close now. He keeps reminding me. We'll see how they go during the week."
Despite having plenty of quality on the sidelines, the Crows are sitting third on the ladder with an impressive 5-2 record.
"Yeah, I guess (we're reasonably satisfied)," Pyke said.
"We want to win every game and tonight was a game we were probably expected to win, and to the guys' credit, they were able to do that.
"It sets us up nicely for a big game in the Showdown."
Pyke added he was hopeful midfielder Curtly Hampton would be ready to return in the SANFL next week after missing Saturday's game with an adductor injury suffered late in the loss to Norwood.
