ADELAIDE forwards Tom Lynch and Andy Otten will both miss at least a month of football, ruling them out of Adelaide's round one game against Geelong next Thursday night.
The pair avoided surgery, but Lynch's dislocated shoulder suffered against Greater Western Sydney last Friday will sideline him for between four to six weeks and Otten will also miss up to six weeks after stretching medial ligaments in his knee during the same game.
The injuries mean the Crows will take on the Cats with up to eight first-choice players unavailable for selection.
Among them is Richard Douglas, who underwent surgery last week to arrest bleeding in his groin after a heavy hit - also suffered against the Giants last Friday.
Douglas told Crows CEO Steven Trigg he'd miss a fortnight at the most, but the club said he'd likely miss at least a month.
"We won't be at full strength round one, without question, we're probably going to have seven or eight of our first-graders out," coach Brenton Sanderson said.
"Otten will probably miss four weeks to be honest … same thing with Lynch … he could be back as soon as six weeks.
“[Douglas] could be four to six weeks, we're not 100 per cent certain on that one though … certainly within the next couple of weeks he'll be up and running around."
Also ruled out of the club's first match of the year are Ricky Henderson (leg), Nathan van Berlo (Achilles), Taylor Walker (knee), Brent Reilly (shoulder) while Rory Laird (adductor) is in doubt having failed to play a pre-season game.
Sanderson said neither he nor his players would dwell on injuries, but rather focus on the opportunities they have created for the Lewis Johnston, Sam Kerridge and Jarryd Lyons.
"Words like 'curses' and bad luck' and all that sort of stuff are really sexy in the media but we just get on with business," he said.
"The players want to know about who comes in, what's going to happen tomorrow, not what happened yesterday and curses or bad luck.
"I actually sent an email to all the staff and said 'it's not bad luck, it's a great opportunity for the next guy who comes in'."
