ADELAIDE defender Daniel Talia has had reconstructive surgery on his left thumb after he was ruled out of Saturday night's encounter with Carlton with a leg injury.
Talia has had a fractured shin, a corked calf and bone bruising in his leg in recent weeks and missed the past two games.
"Daniel has had issues with his thumb for much of the season and managed the injury accordingly," Crows head of football Brett Burton told afc.com.au.
"It makes sense to have the procedure done now so his pre-season is not affected."
Skipper Taylor Walker underwent surgery on his foot on Monday.
The key defender is one of several first-choice Crows who been struck down with injury this season.
Vice-captain Rory Sloane missed 10 weeks with a strained Lisfranc ligament in his foot, prime mover Brad Crouch hasn't played all year, damaging half-back flanker Brodie Smith has played only two games in his return from a knee reconstruction and skipper Taylor Walker was behind the eight ball after a foot injury in the pre-season.
However, the Crows have still had stability in their line-up, with only North Melbourne (31 players), Port Adelaide (33) and West Coast (33) using less players this season.
The Crows have used 34 players this year, the same number as reigning premiers Richmond and Brisbane.
Premiership contenders Greater Western Sydney and Collingwood – who have used 37 and 38 players respectively – have overcome their own injury issues to challenge for the flag.
"A number of factors go into that for a number of different reasons," Crows forward Tom Lynch said.
"They've played some fantastic footy and we haven't.
"We're never going to use it as an excuse, nor should we.
"We've got a great squad and a squad wins you games.
"We've had guys step up and play some pivotal roles for us, so we're looking forward to seeing growth in everyone else as well."
MATCH PREVIEW Blues v Crows
The Crows (11-10) will miss the finals for the first time since 2014 when they finished 10th with an 11-11 record.
They end their home and away campaign against wooden spooners Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
"We'd like to be continuing on playing footy after this week, but the reality is, that's not happening," Lynch said.
"We can still get a lot out of playing on the weekend, like we did last week, and we feel it's really important to keep laying the foundations going into the summer and for next year.
"We want to be an unconditional footy side and playing our brand right to the last second is what's on our minds."
Lynch, who re-signed with the club earlier in the year, hoped out-of-contract winger Paul Seedsman re-signed with the club.
"He's a good mate of mine, so he better be," he said.
"I tell him all the time he better be staying so hopefully he listens."
