Crows coach Don Pyke says Elliott Himmelberg in the box seat to replace injured Josh Jenkins, but who replaces Wayne Milera who is under an injury cloud?

Ahead of official selection, Adelaide coach Don Pyke has hinted that Elliott Himmelberg is the likely replacement for injured Josh Jenkins. But Wayne Milera’s back complaint has thrown up other selection questions.

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Crows coach Don Pyke may have the solution to his “Who replaces Josh Jenkins?” problem, but there could be other selection puzzles still to solve.

Firstly there’s who will replace utility Wayne Milera who is unlikely to play against Geelong on Friday night after being restricted on the training track with a sore back.

“Wayne didn’t do a lot at training … he’s probably unlikely at this stage,” Pyke said.

“He’d have to do a fair bit of work to come up for this week.”

Two names that will be tossed around as possible replacements are Bryce Gibbs and Chayce Jones who are both performing solidly at SANFL level.

“That’s the beauty … we’ve got a pretty full list of fit guys to select from,” Pyke said.

“It’s probably going to come down to roles, balance, what we need and obviously assessing Geelong and how they play and what we think will work come Friday night.”

Wayne Milera is in doubt for the Crows with a sore back. Picture SARAH REED

In Gibbs’ case, Pyke said he was impressed by the good, strong footy the out-of-favour midfielder was playing in the reserves.

“Again, his name will come up for consideration … he’s been working really hard on his game and at training at SANFL level, his attitude has been first-class.”

Tom Lynch’s name won’t be among those bandied about, he’s still at least a week away with his injured calf.

But the two forced changes may not be end of Pyke’s problems, with “a couple of guys” pulling up sore this week.

The Crows coach wouldn’t reveal which players were also under injury clouds, but said they would be given every opportunity to prove their fitness ahead of the round 15 clash at Kardinia Park.

“There were a couple of guys who are a little sore, so we’ve got to assess them, and we’ll do that (Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning) before we finalise the team,” he said.

However, one certainty was that Elliott Himmelberg was in the box seat to replace injured key forward Jenkins.

“He’s obviously done it in the past, so he’ll come under really strong consideration,” Pyke said in the lead up finalising team selection.

Elliott Himmelberg appears likely to take on Geelong on Friday night. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Himmelberg has played six AFL games this season but has spent the last three weeks in the SANFL.

Pyke said Himmelberg had rebuilt his game in the reserves in that time.

“He came in (originally) as a one-game player and he’s now got six under his belt,” Pyke said.

“If he gets the opportunity (against Geelong), I’m sure he’ll apply that learning to perform strongly on Friday night.”

Pyke was in the crowd at Adelaide Oval last Saturday night when Port provided a blueprint of how to beat the league-leaders in Geelong and said it was clear that Port’s strong contested football was what won them the game.

“We recognise we’re going across to play a very good side, at home and we understand the level of effort we need to bring,” he said.

“That doesn’t need any more reinforcement from me than exactly those words.

“(The players) understand the level they want to bring and Geelong will bring what they bring, we can’t control that.

Crows coach Don Pyke coaching from the bench during the 2019 AFL season. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos/Getty Images

“All we can control is how we prepare and how we go in and how we understand what’s going to create winning for us on Friday night and then it’s up to whether we can execute it.”

He also brushed away any concern about the 16-year win drought that the Crows have when playing at Kardinia Park.

“It’s interesting, the concept of a hoodoo,” he said, “because I think there’s probably a third of team who have never played there.

“I look at it as a completely new event, a completely different team, the ground is slightly different, but not majorly different from where we play, it’s now just about making sure our mentality is not worried about those things, that we control what we can control.”