Adelaide has made three changes to its team to play Carlton at the MCG on Saturday.

Forwards Mitch McGovern and Riley Knight and experienced wingman David Mackay have been recalled to the side that lost to Hawthorn.

McGovern and Knight will help bolster the Crows attack, which will be without key duo Tom Lynch (illness) and Charlie Cameron (wrist).

Cameron was injured when he landed heavily on his wrist in a marking contest against the Hawks. He played out the game, but has experienced lingering soreness.

Lynch fell ill early in the week and was unable to be considered for selection.

Update: Tom Lynch

Defender Luke Brown has overcome a minor ankle injury to take his place in the team.

Utility Andy Otten has been omitted.

Otten, veteran onballer Scott Thompson and long-kicking Crow Paul Seedsman are the emergencies.

McGovern, 22, will play his first AFL match since injuring his hamstring in the Round Three Showdown win. The versatile goalkicker has been included after building match fitness in two SANFL games.

Knight, who also impressed last week’s SANFL win over Central District, returns after being squeezed out of the AFL team last week.

Mackay, who was omitted from the senior side in Round 12, was among Adelaide’s best players at state league level in the clash with the Bulldogs.

The Crows will hold an open training session at Football Park from about 9:15am on Friday before flying out to Melbourne. The light session will run for about 45 minutes.

Saturday’s match at the MCG starts at 2:10pm (local). As part of the broadcast agreement, the game will be aired on delay on free-to-air television in South Australia.

Fans can get live updates of the match via the Club’s Twitter, Instagram and Facebook accounts.

Read AFL Media’s preview

The resurgent Blues have won two of their last three games.

Adelaide coach Don Pyke challenged his team to make amends for a disappointing loss to the Hawks with a strong performance against Carlton.

“Our contested stuff was really strong in the first half last week. I think at half-time we were in a good position, but we let it slip in the second half which was disappointing,” Pyke said.

“We’ve had some good conversations about that and the reality is that we need to respond against a Carlton side, which has proven to be (a) very strong defensively and (b) beaten some good sides.

“I mean they beat GWS a couple of weeks ago, Gold Coast and were thereabouts with Richmond.

“We’ve got to get back to playing some of our best footy consistently, which we haven’t done (for a while) to be honest … probably the six weeks we’ve been up and down”

For fans heading to the MCG, the Club will host a post-match function in the Olympic Atrium on Level Three of the Olympic Stand.

It will be a double Crows game day on Saturday, with Adelaide’s SANFL team taking on Sturt at Unley from 2:10pm (local). Ticketed Crows members receive free entry to the Club’s SANFL home and away games upon presentation of their 2017 membership card.

The AFL team is:

IN – Mitch McGovern, Riley Knight, David Mackay

OUT: Charlie Cameron (wrist), Tom Lynch (illness), Andy Otten (omitted)