Selection squeeze at Crows

ADELAIDE coach Don Pyke is expecting tough decisions at the selection table this week as some stars return and vicecaptain Rory Sloane races the clock in a bid to recover from appendix surgery.

Pyke yesterday remained optimistic Sloane would suit up for Thursday night’s home qualifying final against Greater Western Sydney after he walked laps and did some light handball drills at a training session on Sunday.

“He’s still a chance to play,” Pyke said ahead of a closed session yesterday.

“Obviously we will be guided by how he’s feeling, but also by the surgeon and the doctors’ view on what the risk might be.

“It’s only Monday and we’ve got until Thursday night. He’s keen to keep pushing on so we will see how close he can get.”

Sloane had an emergency appendectomy last Tuesday and Pyke said it was too hard to tell where he was at with his progress.

The Crows are set to regain captain Taylor Walker (toe), defender Daniel Talia (ankle) and midfielder Hugh Greenwood (soreness), and Pyke said there were going to be some unlucky players who would miss the match.

“There’s going to be some decisions at selection we’ve got to make across all the lines, to be honest,” he told Triple M.

“We’ve got the captain coming in up forward, Tals [Talia] up back and Greenwood as a midfield option. There will probably be a couple of unlucky players who will get squeezed at the end of selection.”