CROWS coach Neil Craig says Simon Goodwin will lead his team into Saturday afternoon's clash with Carlton despite struggling with back and leg soreness.

The captain, who has carried a back complaint for most of the season, faced a fitness test after Friday's light training session but Craig said he had every reason to believe Goodwin would take his place in the team.

"Simon's been a bit sore earlier in the week, from the Sydney game," he said. "He didn’t do much of anything on Wednesday, so [the work after training] was just a final test.

"It’s a bit of his back [injury], but it’s also a bit of leg soreness. He's copped a couple of whacks and he's played every game this year, but talking to Simon after training, he was really confident [he’d play].

"We just need to make sure he pulls up okay this afternoon, but at this stage – as I know it – he'll play."

Kurt Tippett, omitted on Thursday for the first time in his career, joins young midfielder Andy Otten on stand-by.

Tippett, 21, received a NAB Rising Star nomination earlier in the season, but has been forced out of the side by athletic recruit Brad Moran.

Moran was dropped from the team after making his Crows debut two weeks ago, but impressed against the Swans after receiving the late call-up to replace Kris Massie.

Tippett's SANFL club West Adelaide has the bye this weekend and the Crows have opted to rest the promising forward instead of sending him to the reserves competition.

Craig said he expected Tippett to force his way back into the Crows line-up in the coming weeks.

"Part of the decision [to omit Tippett] is because of Brad Moran’s form," he said. "The pressure has come internally from a guy that size and that's good news for Brad.

"We’ve picked Brad, at the moment, to play in the ruck, which is what Kurt did last week so some pressure has come on there.

"I’ve been really pleased with Kurt Tippett in his first year of AFL footy. To play 17 games in a row, I think, is a great effort by a guy his size.

"He was disappointed [to be omitted], but within a very short period of time he’ll be ready to go again. He’ll practise the areas he needs to get better at and I’d be really surprised if he doesn’t come back and play some more AFL footy this year.

"We’ve already seen David Mackay go back to the SANFL, come back into the side and I thought he played really well last week against Sydney, so it’s part of their [a young player’s] apprenticeship."

In other news, Adelaide’s major sponsor Toyota has re-signed with the club for another three years.

Craig described the news as "fantastic" and said his own commitment would be formalised soon.

Craig took over from Gary Ayres partway through 2004 and is only 10 games shy of overtaking Ayres as the club’s longest-serving coach.

"I know it sounds stupid, but we haven’t had time to sit down and get it done," he said.