THE NEWS just keeps getting worse for injury-hit Adelaide with forward Chris Knights set to join Patrick Dangerfield and rookie Ricky Henderson on the sidelines for the must-win clash with Port Adelaide on Saturday afternoon.

Knights is still battling a stress fracture in his foot, which caused him to miss most of the club's pre-season campaign and also the opening two home and away games.

Dangerfield joined the Crows' casualty list on Wednesday morning, after scans revealed a fracture in his left wrist.

The 20-year-old sustained the injury in a collision with the goal post in Adelaide's loss to the Western Bulldogs on Friday night and is expected to miss up to a month of football.

Henderson will spend a similar amount of time on the sidelines after straining his hamstring in the same game, but captain Simon Goodwin said it was unclear how many games Knights would miss.

"I'm not 100 per cent sure about Chris. He's a bit sore in his foot and it got to the stage where he just needed to have a week off to rest it and see how it comes up next week," Goodwin said.

"It's not ideal losing quality players in Patrick and Chris. We've got some youngsters who are playing in the SANFL and are in good form. They'll come in and like ever before we need them to perform."

In better news, All-Australian centre half-back Nathan Bock (hamstring) got through Wednesday's training session and should be cleared to play against the Power.

Rookie-listed forward Matthew Jaensch was upgraded to the senior list two weeks ago when Dangerfield was under a cloud with a neck complaint and looks set to make his AFL debut.

Goodwin said the Showdown was a good opportunity for a debutant.

"Jaenschy has been in great form in the SANFL. He's got great speed and really good skills," Goodwin said.

"We've had a lot of youngsters make their AFL debuts this year and there's nothing like [making your debut in] a Showdown. It's a finals-like atmosphere, so if you can perform well in a big game like the Showdown you've got a long career ahead of you."

At the other end of the spectrum, Goodwin and fellow veterans Andrew McLeod, Tyson Edwards and Brett Burton are all in the twilight of their careers.

Adelaide's poor start to the season has brought the club's decision to retain all four players for 2010 into question, and Goodwin said they were feeling the pressure to perform.

"We (older players) are well aware of where we stand. We’re no different to anyone in the team and we need to perform to hold our spots," he said.

Adelaide has already equalled its worst start to an AFL season (0-5) since 2000 and another loss could put a line through the club's faint finals hopes.

Goodwin said the players still believed they could be successful this season.

"There's no doubt 0-5 is a position you don't want to be in, but two years ago we lost five games in a row and then and played Sydney in Sydney and won," he said.

"There's no doubt that Port are in good form. We understand that, but we also understand that we've still got a lot of self-belief down at the footy club.

"We know that we've still got a lot of talent within the team and we just have to bring that out ourselves."