The influential midfielder will become the fifth Crow to reach the 300-game milestone when he fronts against the Magpies at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

“It’s an incredible achievement for Thommo,” teammate David Mackay said.

“He is one of those guys that just goes about his business, does his role every week.

“He is a quality player obviously, and has been for such a long time… just the influence he has on the younger players at our club and his leadership is outstanding so it’s a great recognition for him and his efforts over the years.”

The third-placed Crows enter the fixture with seven consecutive wins but on alert about a Collingwood outfit which has won three in a row – their most recent victory putting a dent in Greater Western Sydney’s top-four ambitions.

“Collingwood, we saw what they did last weekend, it’s going to be a pretty tough game,” Mackay said.

“We know they have got a lot of quality in their team and they are just starting to get players back from injury so we’re certainly not going to be underestimating Collingwood this week.

“They have proven they can play against the best teams and match them, as evidenced on the weekend.

Mackay echoed coach Don Pyke’s warning that the red-hot Crows – the league’s highest-scoring outfit – still have more improvement to come.

“We have played some good footy but we still think there’s a lot of improvement left in us, which is really exciting,” Mackay said.

“We are still building and that is the exciting thing for us as a group… I think our team defence has still got a little bit of improvement left in us and our scoring, although it has been a strength, I still think we can keep improving in that.”

Meanwhile, Pyke is confident the contract stand-off between the club and star forward Josh Jenkins is nearing an end.

Jenkins has been in career-best form this year, leading Adelaide’s goal kicking with 43 goals, and is seeking a long-term extension to his contract that expires at the end of the season.

The Crows initially baulked at offering the 27-year-old a four or five-year deal but with rival clubs circling – Brisbane are reportedly the main suitor – the two parties are edging closer to an acceptable compromise.

“I’ve spoken to Josh over the time that the negotiations have been going on … all I can say is that Josh is keen to stay at the footy club and we’re really keen to see Josh stay at the footy club,” Pyke told the Nine Network’s Footy Classified.

“He’s made some great strides this year in his football and also his leadership and the role he’s playing within the team.

“We’re really confident in thinking that we’ll get something sorted on that pretty soon… I don’t know the exact details of it but when you have a player who wants to stay and you have a club who wants the player to stay it’s just about negotiating the appropriate deal and hopefully we’re close to doing that.”

Adelaide can ill afford to lose another sought-after player after the likes of Patrick Dangerfield, Kurt Tippett, Jack Gunston, Nathan Bock and Phil Davis departed in recent years.

Port Adelaide, meanwhile, expect ruckman Matthew Lobbe and speedster Matt White to return from long-term injuries this weekend.

Lobbe hasn’t played for 10 weeks because of a knee injury, while White hasn’t featured since tearing a pectoral muscle in Port’s season opener.

High performance manager Darren Burgess says both are expected to play in state league ranks this weekend, while Brad Ebert will face a fitness test later this week.

-AAP