Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade is confused about his AFL club's next opponent, Adelaide.

How can the Crows, touted preseason as premiership possibles, be winless and languishing in 15th spot?

"Their win-loss ratio actually belies their talent and the way they've been playing," Eade said on Thursday.

"Their form is not as bad as the score line indicates.

"You have a look at the name tags on the board and they've got some talent."

Eade said the Bulldogs were under no illusions about Friday night's Etihad Stadium encounter with the Crows.

"It's not going to be an easy game," he said, confirming he has summoned skipper Brad Johnson and evergreen Jason Akermanis for the clash.

The Bulldogs dropped three players including out-of-form ruckman Will Minson and were unable to consider Matthew Boyd (broken hand).

Young ruckman Jordan Roughead - the cousin of Hawthorn premiership forward Jarryd Roughead - will play his first AFL senior game.

Adelaide have given an AFL debut to a fifth player in as many weeks, with rookie Ricky Henderson upgraded onto the senior list, while Nathan van Berlo has recovered from a back complaint.

Forward Taylor Walker was dropped.

"We are just looking for some more speed at this particular stadium," Craig said on Thursday of Walker's omission.

"Indoors, they are a fast side, so with the possibility of Henderson coming in, and he has got some real speed and plays up forward, we are just looking for a slightly different mix up there."

Craig has endured among his toughest weeks as coach, with some home fans turning on him after Adelaide's fourth consecutive loss last weekend.

But the Adelaide mentor said rather than changing his game plan, he has simply implored his players to be more efficient.

"Our greatest priority is to get a greater number of players playing some high level football, at the moment we are relying on too few to get the result that we want," Craig said.

"There won't be any major changes at the moment because the reality is, because of the number of guys that we haven't got playing high level football, sometimes it's hard to judge your so-called game plan.

"I just don't want to be in a situation at the moment where we are changing too many things because all of a sudden you can't assess anything."

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