ADELAIDE has rested forward Brett Burton to build up his leg strength, while midfield duo Andrew McLeod and Patrick Dangerfield will play.

Burton, 32, has struggled for form since returning from a pre-season knee injury in round two.

The injury has Burton’s kicking, particularly in front of goal where he has managed just 7.8 for the season.

He will be replaced in the side by young forward Taylor Walker.

Coach Neil Craig denied there was anything acutely wrong with Burton’s troublesome knee, but said he needed more strength in his leg.

“I made a decision with Brett yesterday that his form wasn’t good enough to continue," Craig said on Thursday. "He was disappointed because he wants to continue to play. He honestly believes he can play at the level, but he also understands that for what I need him to do he needs to be in better shape.

“Part of the discussion was about his goalkicking and I found it hard to explain to Brett because it was more of a gut feel that he had a lack of power in his leg and he acknowledges that.

“We’ve made a decision that rather than play in the SANFL Brett needs to spend more time getting his leg strong, so he can play the sort of footy that will get him back into our side."

Rebounding defender Graham Johncock will also miss the must-win clash with the Roos, after failing to overcome an AC joint injury.

McLeod, who also suffered a sprained AC joint in the win over Richmond last weekend, completed most of Thursday’s training session and is considered a good chance of playing on Saturday night.

Dangerfield got through the whole session unscathed and will return to the side this week, barring any setbacks in the next 24 hours.

Forward Chris Knights (plantar fasciitis) also made a surprise appearance at training and Craig said the left-footer had made remarkable progress in the last week.

“He did a fair bit of training, but I’ve got to catch up with Chris and the medical people to see what level he’s at," Craig said.

"It’s pretty good news for us because at one stage he could hardly run on it and now he’s progressed to training nearly flat out."

The Crows struggled for three quarters against the Tigers last weekend, but got going in the last quarter to run out 50-point winners.

Craig admitted it would be foolhardy to suggest his side had turned the corner based on one good quarter of football, but said the signs were good.

“We want to see consistency of performance before we can say we’ve got things into place,” he said.

“We need consistency with people on the track, consistency with our training and consistency on game day before we can sit here with any confidence and say (we’re back on track), but you’ve got to start somewhere.

“I guess what I take out of the last two weeks is that we’ve seen some really positive signs, irrespective of the scoreboard.”