Crows say Rory Sloane is almost certain to front against Melbourne on Saturday at Adelaide Oval

RORY Sloane is ‘completely fine’ despite having his foot stomped on and almost certain to start against Melbourne on Saturday but Adelaide still has a key defender in doubt.

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KYLE Cheney says Rory Sloane is 100 per cent fit to face Melbourne on Saturday but the club has stopped short of guaranteeing the superstar’s return.

Sloane — four games back from a dreaded Lisfranc injury — had his foot stomped against Brisbane on Saturday night and conceded it was the “roughest” he had felt since returning.

Cheney said Sloane “is completely fine, no issues he will be sweet” while the club indicated its vice-captain was “almost certain” to face the Demons.

Rory Sloane gets set to pounce on the ball under pressure from Mitch Robinson from Brisbane on Saturday night. Picture: AAP Image/Jono Searle

“Sloaney obviously got his foot stepped on and he also got a knock to the shin so that caused him a little bit of discomfort but there’s nothing sinister behind either of those,” said Crows general manager high performance Matt Hass.

“He’s trained already this week and he’ll train with the main group on Wednesday so everything is positive for Rory.”

Concussion victims Tom Doedee and Lachlan Murphy will both be assessed during the week after suffering head knocks against the Lions.

“Unfortunately we lost two guys to concussion pretty closely together in the third quarter,” Hass said.

“Obviously both entered the concussion protocol and Murph’s moved through that pretty easily and we expect him to train on Wednesday.

“Tommy’s been a little bit slower … we’re hopeful on both and it will just be a doctor’s decision later in the week.”

Kyle Hartigan will be sidelined for at least another fortnight with knee soreness. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

Key defender Kyle Hartigan will be sidelined for at least another fortnight as he recovers from knee soreness.

“Harto’s developed some patella tendinopathy, so that’s a little bit of soreness at the front of his knee,” Hass said.

“That’s taken a little while to settle down. We expect him to probably miss another 2-3 weeks.”

Richard Douglas (ankle) and David Mackay (ribs) are both at least another week away.

Brodie Smith pulled up well after his first game following a 10 month rehabilitation from a knee reconstruction.

“Pleasingly for Brodie he had a really successful return both from a football performance and from a GPS point of view,” Hass said.

“No swelling in the knee, no symptoms whatsoever, work rate was really pleasing. We’ll continue to build his loads and hopefully see him back in the AFL shortly.”

Sam Gibson will be available for selection after being a late withdrawal from the State League side with illness.”

Crows injury list

Doedee (concussion) — Test

Murphy (concussion) — Test

Douglas (ankle) — 1 week

David Mackay (ribs) — 1-2 weeks

Jackson Edwards (ankle) — 1-2 weeks

Hartigan (knee) — 2-3 weeks

Dear (knee) — 2-3 weeks

Andrew McPherson (hamstring) — indefinite

Brad Crouch (groin) — Indefinite

O’Brien (shoulder) — season

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