Adelaide Assistant Coach Jack Hombsch says star defender Wayne Milera is pushing for a return for Saturday night’s home and away season finale against Greater Western Sydney.
Milera has missed the past three matches with a minor hamstring injury, and Hombsch revealed the 28-year-old would be listed as a test for the clash against the Giants.
He said the dashing defender would do all he could to get back on the field this weekend.
“He's still a test, but he's looking really good,” Hombsch said.
“So we'll wait and see until Wednesday when he trains and stuff. Junior's a class player, and he's been really important for us all year, so hopefully he's good to go.
“I think with any player, it's hard to hold them back if they're good to go, so I think if he's good to go, you’d generally be playing (him), and as we've touched on, he's a really important player for us.
“(We’ll) tick that box on Wednesday, and we'll have more of an idea then.”
The Crows find themselves in seventh spot on the ladder after Friday night’s loss to Fremantle, and will need to win this week, as well as have results go their way to avoid the wildcard round.
Hombsch said the group was simply locked on the job at hand this Saturday night, and not caught up in outside factors.
“Ideally, you'd like to avoid it (the wildcard round), but at the moment, we're sort of the master of our own destiny a little bit,” Hombsch said.
“This weekend all we can control is our game against the Giants and get a win there, and regardless of what other results happen, if we perform strongly, we still feel the excitement.
“What an opportunity we get to play finals footy, and then who knows what we can do, so we're very much zeroed in on the one more game to play in the regular season, and then there should be an excitement factor among the group.
“We get to play finals footy, so we'll see where that ends up for us, but at the moment we’re just nailed into this week.”
Hombsch also took the opportunity to talk about the group of key defender James Borlase, who has flourished in his sixth season as an AFL player.
“It brings a smile to my face, seeing the footy he's been able to play this year,” Hombsch said.
“He's done it the hard way, he’s been here for six years, come off the rookie list, and he's had a lot of a lot of one-year contracts through there.
“He's just a pleasure to work with, he's had a lot of things he's worked on throughout his career, and he's just put his head down and gone to work.
“It's a great test of perseverance and a good lesson for a lot of players within the competition that just keep doing the work, because you never know when the opportunity will come.”
Adelaide takes on GWS at Adelaide Oval this Saturday night, with the match to begin at 7.40pm (ACST).
Get your tickets here.
