KEY Sydney Swans midfielder Kieren Jack could play against Adelaide on Saturday night after he received some encouraging news on his injured right ankle.

Swans coach John Longmire admitted he feared Jack would be facing another month on the sidelines after re-injuring his ankle in last Saturday's six-point loss to Collingwood in Sydney.

That was only Jack's third game back following a five-week stint on the sidelines with ligament damage to the same ankle.

But Longmire revealed on Monday the club's reigning best and fairest winner was a chance to play against the Crows.

"Kieren has had a scan and there's no new damage, which is really pleasing," he said.

"He's still a small chance for this week. We've got our fingers crossed.

"With the injury that he's got, if you get a few knocks or wrench it the wrong way, it can feel similar to the first time even though there's no new damage.

"He's a chance this week, but things would have to go his way.

"It feels better today but we're hopeful by the end of the week it feels a lot better. It would be a tremendous result for us.

"Even if he misses this week, that wouldn't be a bad result because certainly on Saturday night I went away thinking it could be another four or five weeks at the earliest.

"So to hear from the doctors and physios that he's even a chance for this week makes me feel pretty pleased."

Defenders Ted Richards (ankle) and Alex Johnson (calf) could also return against Adelaide, when the Swans will attempt to bounce back from consecutive losses to top four sides Carlton and Collingwood.

Longmire was extremely pleased with the effort in the Swans' narrow loss to the Magpies and wants to see similar endeavour at AAMI Stadium.

"It's critical that we maintain that effort," he said.

"We know that against any team in the competition, if you drop away from that at all, you're capable of getting beaten.

"That'll be our focus this week, to keep that effort going and improve."

Longmire was also asked about the situation at ANZ Stadium last Saturday night, when several players found metal pegs on the playing surface.

The coach said it was obviously unacceptable, but was confident it would not be repeated.

He added the ground itself was in better condition than in their other appearance there this season, a victory over Essendon in round two.

"It was a shame because the ground itself looked as though they'd done a lot of work on it and was in a lot better condition than the first round," he said.

"I thought the surface looked pretty good.

"I’m confident it won’t happen again. I’m sure they’ll put procedures in place to make sure it doesn’t happen. I’d be very surprised if this happens again. We want to make sure the players have a safe playing surface, that is the number one priority and I’m sure that will be the case.

"I think ANZ Stadium have admitted themselves it's not acceptable to have those sorts of things on the ground.

"We move on now and understand we need to provide a safe playing environment."

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the AFL or the clubs.