ADELAIDE will toss an AFL lifeline to forward Lewis Johnston and rush back Patrick Dangerfield to meet arch rivals Port Adelaide on Sunday.
Johnston is expected to play his second game for the Crows to try to cover for the broken ankle of tall forward Josh Jenkins, who joins teammates Taylor Walker (knee) and Brent Reilly (shoulder) on the season-ended list.
Johnston played two games for the Sydney Swans in 2011 before being traded to Adelaide.
The 22-year-old had been sidelined for two months with a knee injury earlier this year, but kicked seven goals in SANFL ranks at the weekend.
"He can't do much more at the moment, that is for sure. He is playing some outstanding footy in the SANFL," Crows captain Nathan van Berlo said on Monday.
"He is certainly putting his hand up for selection."
Johnston's looming selection for Sunday's Showdown against Port comes as Dangerfield presses his claims to return from a two-game absence with a shoulder injury.
"I know he was itching at the weekend to try and get out there - this week I'm pretty sure he will be right," van Berlo said of the star midfielder.
Ruckman Shaun McKernan faces a fitness test on a sprained ankle which forced him to be substituted during Adelaide's loss to Fremantle.
The defeat effectively ended the finals ambitions of the Crows, now three wins behind eighth-placed Port.
"Regardless of form or where you're at on the ladder, it's always going to be a big game against Port," van Berlo said.
"We still certainly have got a lot to play for ... we want to make sure we finish the year off strong and fight it out.
"And it's always nice to be the team on top in the town.
"We have got a lot of young guys in the side, they will be around town this week and will feel that build-up, that hype around town. And that is enough to keep you on edge for the week and know that the result is really important."
Van Berlo also said a win on Sunday wouldn't make up for Adelaide's wasted 2013 season.
For just the second time since 2007 the Crows will finish the season below cross-town rivals Port Adelaide, which clung to eighth spot with a gritty nine-point win over the Brisbane Lions.
Showdown XXXV might be the last at AAMI Stadium and while van Berlo said victory in such encounters meant a lot, it wouldn't be of any consolation to his players.
"It's an added bonus if you're able to win this week," van Berlo said.
"I don't think that'd make the season seem a winning result for us if you just take one game for the year.
"[The last Showdown at AAMI Stadium is] significant for supporters and the clubs in general, I don't think players would treat it any differently to be honest."
Power skipper Travis Boak echoed his counterpart's comments that all Showdowns proved fierce contests regardless of form or ladder position.
Port has won four games this season by less than 10 points and the Power's captain said his side's ability to find a way to win would hold it in good stead in the business end of the season.
"The last couple of weeks it's been like that and I think it's been positive for our group to experience those arm wrestles," Boak said.
"You get to the pointy end of the season and finals footy is an arm wrestle, it's just back and forward.
"For us to experience that type of footy for our group is only going to help us, it'll give us a lot of confidence, a lot of belief because in the past we might have faded in games."
