Will Minson is another casualty, with the big man sent back to Williamstown to find some form.
Young forward Jarrad Grant will come in for the second game of his career, while ruckman Jordan Roughead will make his debut.
Boyd broke a bone in his hand in last week's loss to the Brisbane Lions but coach Rodney Eade expects his stay on the sidelines to be brief.
"We're reasonably confident he'll be right next week," Eade said from Whitten Oval on Thursday morning.
"[The injury] was plated, there was a little crack in there and a bit of a [damaged] blood vessel so the hand blew up a bit.
"Once that subsides, he'll be right."
Minson's return to the VFL is no surprise given the rate at which he has turned the ball over in the first month of the season, but Eade felt there may have been mitigating circumstances.
"To be fair to Will, it's not so much his silly mistakes at times, which a lot of players do, we've got to not underestimate the illness he had with the soy milk," he said of the pre-season health scare that saw the ruckman's weight diminish alarmingly.
"He's put a bit more weight on than we expected and he's struggled to get that off. It's all muscle, but I think that's affected his mobility at the same time.
"Hopefully he can get some form and get back in because he's certainly in our best 22."
Eade is confident Johnson and Akermanis can add the run that was sadly lacking in the 22-point loss to the Lions which Eade described as the worst game in a patchy start to the season for his side.
A 2-2 win-loss record and eighth place on the ladder is not how many saw the Bulldogs opening their 2010 campaign, but Eade isn't about to push the panic button.
"I'm certainly not concerned because I've got great confidence in the character of the players," he said.
"It's just about being able to get some basic things right, I know it's really hard work, but they'll be able to get there.
"We're not going to turn it like a switch, we know that. We're going to have to grind out some wins and slowly but surely the confidence will come."
The Dogs are certainly in a far better predicament than their opponent on Friday night.
The Crows were also widely thought of as top-four material before the start of the season, but find themselves floundering near the bottom of the table without a win.
Eade, however, isn't looking at the game as an opportunity to run his team into some form against an also-ran.
"This game can turn on a five-cent piece. You win a couple of close ones, you get the momentum up and it could easily be the other way," he said.
"I think their win-loss ratio actually belies their talent and the way they've been playing.
"Their form's not as bad as the score line indicates. You have a look at the name tags on the board and they've got some talent. We're under no illusions - it's not going to be an easy game and our form's not great.
"We need to respond in the right way."
