Injury-depleted Adelaide could be forced to summon a debutant to replace defender Phil Davis, the latest Crow to miss a chunk of the AFL season.

Davis, who will miss up to a month with a shoulder sprain, is the 10th player on his club's injury list.

The key backman was injured during Adelaide's loss to Fremantle on Sunday, his absence paving the way for untried Luke Thompson to make his AFL debut.

Thompson, a tall defender taken by the Crows in last year's rookie draft and upgraded to the senior list for this season, could debut in the grudge match against Port Adelaide on Saturday night.

"He would be close," onballer Richard Douglas said on Tuesday of Thompson.

"He's super competitive, strong bodied and just hates getting beaten, so if he plays he'll do a really good job for us."

Douglas said he was confident of overcoming a hip complaint in time to front the Power, but fellow midfielder Bernie Vince is struggling with an ankle injury.

Experienced half-back Michael Doughty has already been ruled out with a corked leg suffered in round one.

Douglas said 20-year-old Davis was lucky to avoid surgery on his injured shoulder.

"Phil is a pretty upbeat sort of bloke and it was good news that he didn't need a reconstruction or anything serious like that," Douglas said.

"He'll miss a few games but it's not a bad result in the end.

"It's a big blow for the team.

"Phil has been in great form and has been doing some really good jobs for us."

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