GOLD Coast will be desperately short of experienced key defenders against Adelaide's potent forward line on Saturday after Rory Thompson was ruled out for two more weeks with a quad injury.

Thompson missed the win against Carlton and scans showed he wouldn't be available versus the Crows and North Melbourne.

"He got some quad tightness last Thursday before the game, so we didn't play him. We didn't want to risk him. He'll probably miss the next two weeks," Suns football manager Marcus Ashcroft told the club website.

"Once we get past that point, we'll assess him from week to week."

Co-captain Steven May was confirmed to be out for a similar period after he suffered a left hamstring injury late in the match against the Blues.

"He'll definitely miss the next couple of weeks with that injury and we'll manage it on a week-to-week basis after that," Ashcroft said.

Adelaide has scored more points than any other team and boast an imposing forward line including Taylor Walker, Tom Lynch and Eddie Betts.

Young gun Ben Ainsworth played the first two games of the season but hasn't been seen since, and is likely to miss the next four weeks, too. 

"He's had a really severe corkie in his quad for a bit of time now. Because he's a first-year draftee, we want to make sure we look after him and we're looking at the long-term view. He'll most probably miss the next month," Ashcroft said.

Pearce Hanley returned from Ireland after the death of his younger brother Tommy and played a half in the NEAFL but was hurt and ruled out for this week. 

"Hurt his ankle, got scans on the bone part of his ankle and that came back clear, but he has had some bruising in the heel. He won't play this week," Ashcroft said.

Trent McKenzie and Mitch Hallahan both suffered hamstring strains in the same NEAFL game and are expected to miss a couple of weeks each.

The Suns are in ninth spot with a 2-2 record.

Midfielders David Swallow (ankle) and Michael Barlow (hamstring) are no certainties to face the Crows while Michael Rischitelli is recovering from a right knee reconstruction.