McLeod, Nathan Bock and David Mackay have all been named in the 25-man squad to take on the Cats, which will be trimmed to 22 on Thursday afternoon, while young defender Tony Armstrong has been omitted.
McLeod has not played since having surgery on his troublesome knee, following the Crows’ win over Fremantle in round 11.
There was speculation the dual premiership player and Norm Smith Medallist could line up for the Port Adelaide Magpies in the SANFL for the first time in more than a decade, but Craig said the 33-year-old was a "fair chance" of coming straight back into the team.
“Andrew’s injury was a structural one, so once he has the surgery and does the required amount of training on it you can be pretty well assured that he’s ready to go,” Craig said on Thursday.
“His past history is good, in terms of coming back from injury. He takes a lot of pride in his performance and he wouldn’t put himself out there if he wasn’t ready to perform.”
Mackay is also likely to return to the side, after two weeks on the sidelines with a sprained ankle but Craig hinted that Bock, who has managed just nine games through injury this season, might be forced to come back via the SANFL.
“David Mackay’s situation is similar to Andrew’s. Bocky’s the only one that’s had a soft tissue injury, so we’ll make that final decision. All three of those guys fit and healthy and in good form are in our best 22,” Craig said.
Forward Chris Knights will play for Woodville-West Torrens, but the Crows will wait until Friday before making a decision on the availability of Brett Burton, who is nursing a sore shin.
Geelong is likely to welcome back premiership stars Cam Mooney and Joel Corey for the game against the Crows, while forward Tom Hawkins is also available for selection.
Adelaide has won its past three games, against lowly-ranked teams Essendon, Melbourne and West Coast and Craig said it would be a big step up for his side against the Cats on Friday night.
“We’re confronted with one of the most successful teams in the history of AFL and you could argue that they’re nearly at the peak of their playing performance if you look at their team,” Craig said.
“Even though [our wins] have been against the sides that are in the same area of the premiership table that we reside in, I’d sooner have the form that we’ve got going into this game than the form we had in the first six weeks of the season.
“We’ll need to be at our absolute best because I’m assuming Geelong will be at their best as well, but we’re looking forward to it.”
