ADELAIDE coach Matthew Nicks is imploring his team to do justice to Taylor Walker's 250-game milestone and avoid a slip-up against cellar-dweller West Coast.

Walker will be the central character in Saturday's Adelaide Oval encounter between the ninth-placed Crows and the last-placed Eagles.

"He will leave an incredible legacy at this footy club," Nicks told reporters on Friday.

"We just hope we can do that justice tomorrow. We hope we can put a performance on that he can remember."

The 33-year-old, Adelaide's all-time leading goalkicker, will mark his milestone and then start negotiations on a fresh contract for next season.

That prospect appeared gloomy in Nicks' first season in charge of the Crows in 2020 when Walker struggled with 15 goals from 14 games.

But since then, the spearhead has returned season hauls of 48, 47 and 28 goals so far this year.

"I have been blessed and lucky enough that Tex found his form," Nicks said.

"There was a period there ... where people thought he was slowing down - and he proved them wrong.

"So I have been lucky enough to watch some of his best footy.

"He's really important to our group both on and off the field, he's a leader ... the guys follow him.

"Hopefully he can have a really strong game but moreso the team, really all he's after is a win tomorrow."

Anything but a Crows win in the twilight fixture would be a major upset against an injury-cursed Eagles outfit with just a solitary victory this season.

But such talk makes Nicks nervous.

"Week-in, week-out, the competition is so tight," he said.

"They have a midfield that is as good as any in the competition.

"Yeah, they've had their challenges with injury across the year and that's probably where the results haven't been where they want.

"But they can play some really high level footy and, if given the opportunity. then that's very dangerous.

"So we know we're going to have our work cut out.

"When you go up against the midfield like West Coast bring, if you're not at least matching that then you're going to find yourself playing back half."

Meanwhile, Nicks said his players were deflated by the serious knee injury to defender Tom Doedee, who falls off-contract at the end of the season.

Doedee will soon have his right knee reconstructed and miss the next 12 months of football.

The 26-year-old is a restricted free agent at the end of this season and has yet to commit to a fresh contract with the Crows.

"That's something that is ongoing, we will continue to work through that with Tom and his management," Nicks said.

Nicks had no doubt the Victorian-born defender, who had his left knee reconstructed in 2019, would bounce back.

"It's a challenging one because Tom's such a liked player in our group, he's a leader of our group," Nicks said.

"It's not the first time it's happened with Tommy and so I think initially, everyone, it flattens the group."