ADELAIDE captain Taylor Walker is likely to miss three more games with a glute injury before setting his sights on the round 13 clash with Hawthorn at the MCG.
Walker's deputy Rory Sloane could also be back to face the Hawks after being listed as three to four weeks away from returning from a Lisfranc ligament strain in his foot.
The Crows could regain reigning best and fairest Matt Crouch (hamstring), defender Luke Brown (adductor) and half-back flanker Wayne Milera (hamstring) for Sunday's crunch game with fellow top-four side Melbourne in Alice Springs.
Walker was ruled out of last Friday night's 37-point win against the Western Bulldogs to get in a period of conditioning to make up for an interrupted pre-season.
The 28-year-old was sidelined for two months with a foot injury in February before returning for the Grand Final rematch in round two with premiers Richmond.
A knee complaint prevented Walker from training, but he continued to appear before he missed the round seven win against Carlton with a hamstring injury.
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He came back the following week for Showdown 44, but injured his glute in the five-point loss to Port Adelaide.
"I'll do a period of pre-season, will probably be a couple of weeks, then I'll aim for the Hawthorn game," Walker told Triple M on Tuesday.
"I got a sore knee during that period, so I wasn't able to train during the week and my only conditioning was from games.
"My conditioning wasn't 100 per cent.
"I probably won't get to 100 per cent, but I just need a top-up to be able to let my body do what I want to do from week to week, and train during the week, because I haven't been able to do that.
"This week will be rehab with top-up conditioning, whether it be swimming or elliptical or boxing.
"Then, over the next two or three weeks, we'll really crank it up."
Sloane hasn't played since the Crows' round four loss to Collingwood on April 13.
He was initially sidelined with foot soreness and was in line to return for the round eight clash with Port Adelaide, before suffering the minor Lisfranc strain in a training session.
Sloane will now ramp up his training as builds up to a possible return against the Hawks.
He could be given an extra fortnight to recover, with the Crows having a bye in round 14 before they host ladder leaders West Coast in round 15 on June 30.
Forward Riley Knight will also spend another three to four weeks on the sidelines with hamstring tendinitis.
There's better news for Crouch, the All Australian midfielder a chance to return after missing just one week with a hamstring injury.
"We looked after Matt last week after he got a little bit sore after the main training session,” Crows general manager of high performance Matt Hass told afc.com.au.
"He got a nice, big session in on Sunday so he will join in with the main group this week.
"Should he get through that, he will be available on the weekend."
