Adelaide’s dumping of fan favourites Graham Johncock and Bernie Vince is a calculated gamble, Crows assistant coach Mark Bickley says.

The decorated duo have been axed for Sunday’s home clash against Western Bulldogs, with captain Nathan van Berlo also to miss the match with a knee injury.

The Crows summoned three inexperienced players as replacements for the experienced trio, in 12-gamer Tom Lynch, debutant Rory Laird and Sam Kerridge, who will play his second AFL game.

“The guys who have come in have all been in good form in the SANFL and are playing really confidently and we think they are going to give us a really strong effort,” Bickley told reporters on Saturday.

“It’s fantastic when you have young players come in … it’s more about their form and the way they have been going about their business, they have been in really good playing and training form.

“But you’re not quite sure what you’re going to get when you change almost 25 per cent of your side.”

The Dogs, cursed by injury, have made six changes to their side for the AAMI Stadium encounter.

Among the inclusions are captain Matthew Boyd, returning from a calf injury for his first game this season, and debutants Jack Macrae and Jake Stringer.

Bickley said the number of changes in the Bulldogs’ line-up made them somewhat hard to read, but added Adelaide would be more focused on their own performance.

“It’s more about us getting more players in form,” he said.

“That is generally a really easy way of looking at your side and seeing how you’re going: go through and look at how many players are in good form. And you can probably count them on one hand for us.

“For us, it’s about making sure we have real clarity on each player, what their role is, and then being able to go out and do that really well.

“We don’t expect everyone to get 25, 30 possessions. But we have seen in the past that when everyone has a clear understanding of their role and they carry that out to the letter, generally we get a good result.”