Adelaide coach Don Pyke says it was a difficult decision to leave out two Club stalwarts for Saturday night's game against the Brisbane Lions.

Experienced duo Josh Jenkins and David Mackay were omitted for two debutants in Hugh Greenwood and Jordan Gallucci.

"It is always difficult when you leave out players who have played quite a lot of footy for your footy club," Pyke told reporters at Adelaide Airport on Friday.

"But we base it on performance, and we felt that the changes were right for the individual and also for the team."

The Crows were also unable to select Troy Menzel (corked quad), but defender Jake Lever returns from a one-match absence because of hamstring tightness.

Pyke said the inclusion of Greenwood and Gallucci will add some spark to his side.

“Two first-gamers is a great injection of some freshness and energy,” he said.

“Jordan (Gallucci) is an early draft pick for us. He’s got good speed and good energy around the ball.

“He’ll play primarily forward with a bit of a look through the midfield.

“(Greenwood is) a great story for a guy who’s transitioned back into footy after a period at basketball.

“He does his best work as an inside midfielder at SANFL level, and he’s probably been our most consistent player at SANFL.

“We selected the team we think is best suited to win the game against Brisbane.”

Adelaide remains in top stop despite despite consecutive losses to North Melbourne and Melbourne over the past fortnight.

"You can sit there and probably do your head in trying to think through how that works," Pyke said of the losses.

"But in a 22-game season, you're going to have moments where you're not going to be at the level.

"And you're going to have moments where the opposition, as Melbourne did last week, came with a ferocious attitude around the ball.

"But we had that in the first six weeks. We have got the capacity. We have got to make sure we return to that and bring that on Saturday night."