Even if Richmond don't pull off the miraculous feat of making the finals, defender Ricky Petterd says their late-season resurgence has already helped set up their 2015 campaign.

Petterd admitted the Tigers wouldn't have believed they'd be in this position after losing four games in a row in the middle of the year.

But he said they refused to write off the season, and the return of key players including Alex Rance and Ivan Maric had contributed to their increased confidence and change in form.

"It's always important to play good football and win games - we've got three games left and we'd love to win all three of them and that's what we'll aim to do," Petterd said on Tuesday.

"If we don't make the finals, it will give us a bit of confidence going into pre-season and into next year.

"I think now we know exactly what we have to do to win games and I think that will be big for us next year."

However, he acknowledged what an achievement it would be to slot into the eight in time for September.

"It would be huge [to play finals].  But we can't think anything further than this weekend against Adelaide because they're in some pretty good form,” he said.

"It's a bit of a cliché but it is one week at a time for us and every game is like an elimination final, and there's nothing bigger that this Saturday night against Adelaide."

Petterd said the Tigers had paid no attention to Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson's comments this week that drew attention to the potential effect of the Crows' six-day break after beating the Brisbane Lions in warm Queensland conditions.

Dan Jackson is expected to train this week and put his hand up to face the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.