Collingwood will be without former captain Scott Pendlebury for Sunday's matchup with Adelaide due to an eye injury.

While the Magpies confirmed on Thursday that the veteran midfielder has avoided damage to his eye following an incident from the final term of Tuesday's Anzac Day win over Essendon.

Pendlebury was unable to finish the match and was sent to a specialist in the aftermath of the match, with the 35-year-old listed as no certainty to play in Round 7.

Named as one of eight emergencies for this weekend's trip to Adelaide Oval, Pendlebury has been confirmed as an omission for the highly-anticipated matchup with the in-form Crows.

Senior coach Craig McRae confirmed to reporters on Friday that Pendlebury's injury hasn't developed as initially hoped, with the club opting not to risk the veteran against Adelaide.

"Pendles is going to be out, we named him in our squad. He won't play," McRae said.

"He got a bit of a poke in the eye which I think most of you have seen. He's not quite right at the moment so we've just made a decision to look after him."

McRae has also revealed that veteran Steele Sidebottom has been absent from training just days out from their clash with the Crows due to illness.

While the club remains confident Sidebottom will suit up for the Magpies on Sunday, the premiership winger will need to prove his fitness ahead of Sunday's game.

Collingwood have recently been impacted by illness, with a bout of gastro sidelining Jordan De Goey for the club's Round 5 clash with St Kilda, while captain Darcy Moore and swingman Nathan Kreuger were also noted to be under the weather in recent weeks.

First-year midfielder Ed Allan was unavailable for selection a fortnight ago due to COVID.

The Magpies have also listed Sidebottom as an emergency for this week's match, with Kreuger, Trey Ruscoe, Will Kelly, Jack Ginnivan, Harvey Harrison and Oleg Markov also in the mix for a bench spot.

Collingwood will confirm their selected bench and emergencies at 5:00pm (AEST) on Friday.