Adelaide and Port Adelaide both have key players in doubt for their AFL grudge match on Saturday night.

Port playmaker Robbie Gray is struggling to overcome a leg injury while Crow spearhead Taylor Walker has a lower back complaint.

Both missed training on Friday and will face fitness tests on Saturday morning.

Adelaide defender Richard Tambling has been ruled out with an ankle injury sustained at training on Thursday, his place taken by Matthew Wright who was elevated from the rookie list.

And Crow forward Ricky Henderson has been cleared to play despite suffering a head knock during training on Thursday.

Coach Neil Craig, who implored his players to toughen up following their loss to Fremantle last week, defended the fierce nature of Thursday's training.

"Our training session yesterday was as it has been for the whole year going into games ... there is nothing unusual about what we did and the way we went about it, it was just bad luck for those two," Craig said on Friday.

"Certainly this year, if you look at the injuries we have got and where they have occurred, in games, we have had minimal injuries from training so we'll ride that through and keep pushing on."

Power playmaker Steven Salopek also missed training on Friday as his wife gave birth to a boy.

Coach Matthew Primus said Salopek was a certain starter but conceded Gray's prognosis was unknown.

"Robbie, we're not sure, we'll test him tomorrow morning," Primus said.

Primus, yet to win this season, has already made five changes to the Power team defeated in Geelong last Sunday, including dropping experienced duo Kane Cornes and Daniel Pearce.

"We know what we're about and what we need to improve on," Primus said.

"We need to improve a lot of stuff through our midfield, defensively and offensively, and we're trying to find the players that can do that.

"If you ask them what we need to do and how we want to play, they can all say that - it's just a matter of applying it.

"And we haven't been able to apply that consistently enough so far."

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