The Hawks will need to find a way to quell the influence of Taylor Walker on Saturday, with the Crows’ skipper expected to return for the Round 2 clash.

Walker was a late withdrawal from Adelaide’s Round 1 clash against GWS, following hamstring soreness sustained during his final JLT hit out.

"I'm pretty confident I will play this week," Walker told Triple M Adelaide on Monday.

Despite the absence of their skipper, the Crows managed to kick 22 goals and overcome touted flag-favourite GWS by 56 points. However, if deemed fit, the big No.13 is a certain inclusion.

Adelaide’s Senior Coach Don Pyke described the difficulty of assessing a hamstring injury without testing it in a match environment, and said the Crows’ medical staff took a cautious approach with their skipper.

Read: A Hawthorn injury update following our Round 1 clash

"He was really close. He had some awareness [of the injury], and some awareness rings a little bit of an alarm bell,” Pyke told afc.com.au earlier this week.

"The hardest part you've got with a hamstring injury is you can't actually test it at genuine game speed where you're asked repeat effort, fatigue, change direction, kick left and right foot.

"He should be fine for next week."

Hawthorn’s defenders now face the colossal task of suppressing the in-form Adelaide forward line, who will be buoyed by their skipper’s inclusion, when the two teams meet at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

Walker has kicked 21 goals in his nine contests against the Hawks, returning his biggest bag of five against the club in Round 10, 2009. However, the winning margin falls in the Hawks' favour, having come out on top in seven of the nine clashes in which Walker has played.