Jake Soligo confident Darcy Fogarty and Riley Thilthorpe will face Carlton on Saturday

The Crows are confident Riley Thilthorpe will face the Blues on Saturday, but what about Darcy Fogarty? Well, he’s still got some work to do to get back after Adelaide’s loss to Freo.

Adelaide midfielder Jake Soligo is confident key forwards Riley Thilthorpe and Darcy Fogarty will both take on Carlton as the Crows look to bounce back from a disappointing outing against Fremantle.

Thilthorpe and Fogarty both took part in the Crows’ light training session at West Lakes on Monday.

Thilthorpe suffered a hairline fracture in his finger on his left hand in the loss to the Dockers in Perth on Friday, but played out the match, while Fogarty didn’t travel west after hurting his shoulder in the win over GWS the previous week.

Riley Thilthorpe could still face the Blues. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Darcy Fogarty missed the loss to Freo. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

In the light session Thilthorpe did take part in the kicking and marking drill, as well as the light jogging, but only used his right hand with the finger on his left still heavily bandaged.

The Crows will get him handling the ball later this week to see if he takes on the Blues on Saturday at Adelaide Oval.

“I saw him (Thilthorpe) yesterday and he seems to be fine, it looked pretty gross on the bench … but as it stands he should be OK for the weekend,” Soligo said.

In a positive sign for Fogarty he looked like he could mark the ball unimpeded on Monday.

Crows senior coach Matthew Nicks has said given how sore Fogarty was last week it could be an injury that keeps him out for an extra week or two.

Soligo said Fogarty had some boxes to tick.

“I’m not too sure, I think he has a couple of fitness tests to do,” he said.

“I think he should be fine but I’ll leave it to the fitness staff.”

The Crows will be looking to bounce back against the resurgent Blues following a disappointing showing against Fremantle on Friday night, in which they started slowly and could not catch up to the Dockers.

“If you are that one per cent off it will hurt you on the day so we have to be consistent each week,” Soligo said.

The Crows started slow against the Dockers and couldn’t catch up. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The Crows were well beaten at the contest by the Dockers, something Soligo said the midfield group needed to own.

Individually, after a barnstorming start to the season, the 22-year-old acknowledged he hasn’t been at the same level over the past three weeks.

“Probably not the ideal way I would like to be playing over the past three weeks but you get back on the horse and train hard during the week,” he said.

“I feel like I haven’t been too bad but consistent four quarters is what I need and that is probably what I am not bringing at the moment.”

After being subbed off on Friday night for tactical reasons, veteran midfielder Matt Crouch walked laps on Monday.

SURPRISE VERDICT AFTER THILTHORPE’S FINGER INJURY SCANS

Scans have revealed Adelaide forward Riley Thilthorpe has suffered a hairline finger fracture, but the Crows are not ruling him out of taking on Carlton on Saturday.

Thilthorpe suffered what was thought to be a badly dislocated finger on his left hand in the second half of the Crows’ loss to Fremantle on Friday night, but was able to play out the match after treated by Adelaide medical staff.

He underwent scans on Sunday and while the X-ray showed a minor fracture associated with the dislocation, it was not a serious finger injury.

The Crows said the injury is not expected to impact his ability to train this week.

The plan is for Thilthorpe to run on Monday and then start handling the football later in the week, which will determine whether he can take on the Blues on Saturday.

Riley Thilthorpe has a fracture in his finger.

The Crows were without Darcy Fogarty for their loss to the Dockers and it is not guaranteed that he will return from his shoulder injury to take on the Blues, so Adelaide will be crossing its fingers that Thilthorpe can take on Carlton in an increasingly important game for Matthew Nicks’ side.

The 22-year-old sits third in the Coleman Medal race with 19 goals this season.

He told television crews outside of scans on Sunday that the finger - which was in a bandage - was “a bit sore” but it was more how it looked at the time that concerned him.

“It was more the sight of it that freaked me out,” he said.

“I just saw it bleed and I was just sort of panicking and went to the bench and they fixed it up.”

With Fogarty out the Crows shifted Dan Curtin to play more forward after a mix between there and the wing to start the season.

But with the Crows heavily outnumbered when it came to inside 50s, he only finished with 0.1 while Taylor Walker had 2.1 and Thilthorpe 3.2 against the Dockers.

Originally published as Jake Soligo confident Darcy Fogarty and Riley Thilthorpe will face Carlton on Saturday