Frustrated Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks admits his winless side is lacking confidence as their much-anticipated AFL finals hopes hang by a thread.
History is against Adelaide after a horror 0-4 start, the losing streak extended by a 10.18 (78) to 8.15 (63) home loss to Melbourne in the Gather Round opener on Thursday night.
Only one team has recovered from that position to play finals under the top-eight system - Sydney in 2017.
Now in his fifth season at the helm, Nicks is yet to lead the Crows back to September, but he was widely expected to do so this year after an 11-win campaign in 2023.
It is just over a fortnight since Adelaide gave him a two-year contract extension.
Adelaide face another tough assignment when they travel to take on Carlton next week. The Blues will be 4-0 if they beat Fremantle on Saturday at Adelaide Oval.
"We'll never give up," Nicks said after the loss to Melbourne.
"I know they can perform at a level higher than we are now. I'm confident that we're going to find our way through this.
"Tonight was a small step in a certain area. We've still got a hell of a lot of work to do, but I'm confident in the group."
Nicks saw "glimpses" of the team he wants Adelaide to be against Melbourne, but conceded too many Crows players are still performing below their best.
"What we did have right was a system that we hadn't seen in the first three rounds," Nicks said.
"We got an area of our game back to where it was last year, but unfortunately that exposed some of our execution, and our ball use at the moment looks so clunky.
"That can come off a little bit of a lack of confidence with where the group sits and a bit of pressure that you're under."
Nicks made five changes to his team to take on Melbourne - two of them forced by injuries - and forecast more in the near future.
"We've got to look at our team from a selection point of view and get guys in that are going to be able to play the way we play," he said.
"At the moment it's hard for us. We're working our way through it.
"We've got the players there that can do it. We've shown it. We're not too dissimilar to where we were last year from a list point of view.
"Unfortunately, we've got a few that just aren't at their best."
Nicks is prepared for any heat that comes his way while the Crows are struggling on-field.
"That's understandable, that's performance, and we're here to perform," he said.
"I go to work the same way I talked about our players getting confidence.
"We put our heads down during the week and we work through what needs to improve."
