INJURY-PLAGUED Adelaide midfielder Brad Crouch has been ruled out of the JLT Community Series and appears a long shot for round one due to a troublesome hamstring.

The talented 23-year-old is making slow progress from a hamstring strain last month and is in serious doubt for the Crows' season opener, when they will face Greater Western Sydney's star-studded engine room.

The Crows told AFL.com.au on Tuesday that Crouch would be available for the pre-season series. That prognosis has since changed.

"Given Brad’s injury history and young age we won’t rush his return," high performance manager Matt Hass said.

"He won’t play in the pre-season competition as he recovers and we build up his training loads to match level.

"We expect Brad to make a full recovery and be an important player for the club this season."

Crouch has battled a litany of injury woes in his early career since finishing runner-up to Jaeger O'Meara in the 2013 NAB AFL Rising Star award.

He has managed just 27 games over the past three seasons – 16 of those last year – and was sidelined for all of 2015 due to a persistent foot complaint.

The gifted onballer suffered his latest setback, his third hamstring strain, in a kicking drill after the Christmas break.

Meanwhile, veteran Scott Thompson is on track to return to competitive training in the next few weeks after struggling with a sore shoulder.

"Fortunately for Thommo it’s an upper body injury which means he hasn't lost any conditioning," Hass said.

Luke Brown, Kyle Cheney, Alex Keath and Paul Seedsman are all making progress from groin complaints and are expected to play in the pre-season competition.