ADELAIDE coach Neil Craig has denied his decision to wield the axe at selection this week was a reaction to the club's disappointing loss to Geelong, saying he'd run out of patience with several players in his "underperforming" team.

In all, the Crows have made six changes for their clash with the Sydney Swans at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night.

Ricky Henderson (concussion) and Chris Schmidt (knee) will both miss the game through injury, while forward Chris Knights and young trio Shaun McKernan, Jack Gunston and Luke Thompson have been omitted.

Knights, who missed most of last season with a foot complaint, has played every game this year, but has struggled to recapture the form of his breakout 2009 season, in which he kicked 43 goals.

The 24-year-old reported a calf injury on Friday and won't play in the SANFL this weekend, but Craig said he was confident the left-footer would bounce back from his omission.

"It [selection] is not a knee-jerk reaction to the Geelong game, or the first quarter in particular," Craig said on Friday.

"The four - and three of those are young players - that go out, it's because of performance and they've had a reasonable go at it for an amount of time.

"Chris Knights is [different]. He's a seven-year player. His work-rate and preparation have been very good, but his impact on the game is not quite what it should be.

"He's certainly disappointed with his form so far, but it's probably mirrored our own playing form [of] the players who are in the same category as Chris, as six or seven-year players. Their form has fluctuated."

Adelaide will welcome back wingman David Mackay, half-back flankers Matthew Jaensch, Richard Tambling and Brad Symes and utility Brad Moran, while young defender Daniel Talia will make his debut for the club.

Talia, who was drafted by the Crows with pick No.13 in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft, impressed during the NAB Cup/Challenge but missed the opening two months of the season with an Achilles injury.

Craig said it was possible the promising 19-year-old would line up on dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes at different stages of the game on Saturday night.

"Daniel's had some consistent footy in the AFL after overcoming an Achilles tendon injury, and his form particularly last week was very good," he said.

"He might get on Goodes at some stage if Goodes goes relatively deep [in the forward line]. It'll be good for our fans to see him in action.

"You get the feeling people have been waiting to see him. Hopefully, he'll play a benchmark game."

Craig had a routine meeting with the Adelaide board on Thursday night.

The Crows' longest-serving coach has come under increasing pressure following the club's dismal start to the season.

He refused to blame the inexperience of the squad, or the number of out-of-form players for Adelaide's current predicament, telling the board the team had underperformed this season, and maintaining he was ultimately responsible.

"Irrespective, of the profile of the squad the cold, hard facts are that we're an underperforming team," he said.

"No one wants an underperforming team and … when it all boils down to it that's my responsibility."

During the week, out-of-contract veteran Michael Doughty, who will play his 200th game against the Swans this weekend, said he would wait until the end of the season before deciding whether he would like to play on in 2012.

Craig declined to enter into debate over whether the 31-year-old would be offered another contract, but said Doughty might be swayed by the sudden retirements of champions Simon Goodwin, Andrew McLeod, Brett Burton and Trent Hentschel, who were all forced to retire mid-season after agreeing to play on last year.

"Mick's had the capacity to sit last year and watch what happened to Goodwin, Tyson Edwards, Andrew McLeod, Brett Burton and Trent Hentschel, who all started the season in great faith about what they could and couldn't do," Craig said.

"Mick is pretty clear about what his body needs to be able to indicate to him to be able to go for another year. That's not to suggest he'll go either way, but it's a great environment to have a look at because all players think they have another year in them.

"His leadership stuff will certainly only get better and that's the other aspect to it."

Katrina Gill covers Adelaide news for afl.com.au. Follow her on Twitter: @AFL_KatrinaGill