Winless Adelaide have stopped short of describing hamstring soreness to forward Taylor Walker’s as a setback to his AFL comeback.

Walker had been expected to return within weeks after having a knee reconstruction almost a year ago.

But the key forward reported hamstring soreness after training on Saturday and had scans on Monday.

“The damage was at the very minor end of the scale,” the Crows said in a statement.

“The club anticipates it will have minimal, if any, effect on his return to playing.”

Regardless of the hamstring complaint, Walker wouldn’t have made his comeback this weekend and will resume playing for Adelaide’s reserves team in the SANFL at a date yet to be determined.

The Crows are also sweating on the fitness of club champion Scott Thompson as they chase a first win of the season against St Kilda on Sunday in Melbourne.

Thompson suffered a corked thigh in Saturday’s 63-point loss to Sydney which left the Crows in 17th position on the ladder.

Midfielders Sam Kerridge (eye) and Mitch Grigg (groin) will also face fitness tests later this week.

Thompson was substituted in the second quarter, replaced by Matt Crouch, who made his AFL debut as the Crows were over-run late in a game for a third consecutive week.

Crouch believed the fade-outs to be a mental issue, rather than lack of fitness.

“Our fitness is pretty good – it’s easy to say that we’re running out of legs but I think we need to mentally be better and be stronger in the contest,” he told reporters on Monday.

“It’s a combination of things but the boys here are a pretty resilient group, we’ll fight back.

“The morale around the group is still pretty confident. It’s only round three and there is a long way to go in the year.”