Adelaide don't need to change their approach in order to arrest a costly run of slow starts, says Matthew Nicks.
The Crows coach is also confident of regaining skipper Jordan Dawson for next Friday's clash with Fremantle.
Adelaide dawdled out of the blocks against Geelong on Thursday, like they did a week before against the Western Bulldogs, and again came up short.
Following the 9.14 (68) to 9.6 (60) loss, Nicks lamented giving Geelong the first 10 inside-50s of the game along with an early 15-point lead.
"Probably the first 10 minutes of the game we were still on the bus," Nicks said, before dismissing the suggestion Adelaide could need to change their preparation or warm-up.
"No, it's not something that we need to change," he said.
"We've come out in games and started really well. So, we'll just keep working on being better and knowing what it takes."
But Nicks planned to take "a pretty close look" at the opening 10 minutes of the game to figure out where they went wrong, along with how to close out a tight contest.
He was frustrated with how much territory Geelong were consistently able to gain.
"We talk about earning the right to play a certain way, we didn't earn that tonight for long enough," Nicks said.
Nicks praised key backs Nick Murray, Max Michalanney and Jordon Butts, who hung in and made life tough for Geelong's forwards.
"They at least limit the scoreboard impact and keep us in the fight. If you look at expected score, we probably dodged a bullet," Nick said.
"I think they should have been 30-odd points ahead of us at one point. That can come from pressure on the kicker and our backs have been pretty solid.
"So give some credit where it's due, but we just can't keep putting them under that sort of pressure."
Dawson (calf), Taylor Walker (managed) and Rory Laird (calf) should return to provide much-needed experience against Fremantle.
"There were a few that were really close to this week," Nicks said.
"Daws was super close. It was a captain's run decision. Laird's similar. Tex should be right to go. His was more of a management decision.
"I think we'll be looking at at least three of them."
