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Young Adelaide forward Shaun McKernan is expected to miss up to six weeks after breaking his arm in a training mishap on Friday morning.
Robert Shirley will replace him in the Crows' line-up for their clash against Fremantle at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night.
McKernan, who was struck on his left forearm by a team-mate's errant elbow during the warm-up, surprisingly didn't leave West Lakes until the conclusion of training but about an hour later, X-rays confirmed that he'd suffered the break.
Phil Davis joins Richard Douglas and Jared Petrenko on the team's emergency list.
It's a major blow for McKernan, who made his debut last week against Richmond, but it forces a change to the side which may have already been on the cards before the incident.
The Dockers' decision to rest the hamstrung Aaron Sandilands and the wet weather expected in Adelaide on Saturday night had the Crows pondering whether they had too many big men in the line-up.
Coach Neil Craig spoke to the media before the news broke on McKernan and said he had been keen to keep his young player in the squad - providing the conditions were right.
'We saw Shaun as another forward, we want to try and keep that structure there,' he said.
'We debated the weather for a long time and we've still got a bit of flexibility with that but I'm keen to keep him going as a player if we can, it's important to get as much football into him as we possibly can.'
'If you look back at our structure, McKernan has sort of taken over from (Taylor) Walker, so it's not dissimilar to the structure we've had. So it really doesn't unbalance us, the only real question would be, if it's real wet do you need an extra big guy?'
Craig said the absence of Sandilands and McKernan wouldn't have a major bearing on how his team approached the game.
'He (Sandilands) could play the ball into areas probably no other ruckman can because they are not that big but that's the only real difference, we don't have to worry about him pushing forward like he can do,' he said.
Craig is expecting Zac Clarke and Kepler Bradley to offer a 'competitive' effort against Ivan Maric and the inexperienced James Sellar in the ruck.
Meanwhile, the Crows have decided to give Brett Burton another week in the SANFL before recalling him to the side.
Craig said it was a tough decision leaving the veteran forward out but he went with his 'gut' during the team's selection meeting.
'Brett Burton couldn't have done anymore, in actual fact what he's been able to do is quite exceptional,' he said.
'He made it really difficult for me in terms of selection; there was a lot of debate whether to play Brett this week.'
'I just want him to play again ... we want Brett Burton back for the long haul not the short haul.'
