Coach Brenton Sanderson says there’s no room for complacency at West Lakes as the Crows prepare to enter the second half of season 2012.

Adelaide has enjoyed a near-dream start in Sanderson’s first year in charge, winning eight of its opening 10 games to sit in fifth spot on the AFL ladder.

Predictions about where Adelaide, and other clubs in and around the top eight, will finish have already started but Sanderson said his team’s focus wouldn’t alter.

“We haven’t talked about it (expectations) as a group or even as coaches. We’re trying to live in the moment as best as we can,” Sanderson said on Tuesday.

“It (outside expectations) shouldn’t affect us. The players have just got to focus on their next contest - that’s as simple as we’ve tried to keep it for the whole season, from the first day of pre-season until this moment. It’s been all about the next contest.

“We’re really happy with where we sit on the ladder and our win-loss record (8-2), but the pessimist says there’s still a lot of room for improvement. There are some things we need to tighten up on really quickly. In stages of games this year, we’ve been exposed in different areas. That’s what I focus on and what keeps me awake at night, those areas.

“We’re certainly not patting ourselves on the back yet. It’ll be easy to say, ‘we’ve had a great start to the year and it’s just going to happen for us in the second half’. We have to ensure we keep on improving and keep being hard on each other.

“The competition is so tight … if you take your eye off the ball for even a minute you’re going to get exposed, so it’s important we keep focused.

“We had a mental and physical breather over the weekend, but this week it’ll be business as usual. We’ll crash back in and ensure we bring our best game against the Saints.”

The Crows were one of six teams to have a bye in round 11. The majority of players enjoyed a rare weekend off before returning to training on Monday.

The break also gave the coaches a chance to debrief the first half of the season and, more importantly, prepare for the second half.

“As coaches, we had a little mid-season review just to see where we sat across the competition,” Sanderson said.

“Some things we’re at the top (of the table) of, like contested ball and clearances, but some things we’re right down the bottom. We’ve got to ensure we tighten up the areas that need improvement, like uncontested possession. We’re not getting enough outside ball, which should be a strength of ours, so we’ll ensure we keep checking those boxes as the season progresses.

“Hopefully, we set ourselves up for a really solid second half of the year.”

The team trained at AAMI Stadium on Tuesday ahead of the clash with St Kilda on Friday night.

The Saints have won three of their past five matches and Sanderson said it was important the Crows were switched on after a weekend off.

“The players trained well today. I think the bye has to help, with the ability to get away from the footy club for a couple of days. We didn’t have a long break or anything - we had two, two-day breaks,” he said.

“They’re really enthusiastic about what’s ahead and they know St Kilda will be a tough opponent this week.”

St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt starred against the inexperienced Gold Coast defence last weekend, kicking seven goals to move into third place in the AFL goalkicking. The four-time All Australian also leads the competition in marks inside 50m, but Sanderson said there was more to the Saints forward line than Riewoldt.

“St Kilda’s small forwards in Stephen Milne, Terry Milera and Ahmed Saad are just as dangerous as their big forwards,” Sanderson said.

“Nick has been in great form. Hopefully, we have enough guys who can cover him. We’ve seen Rutten in form and Talia. Sam Shaw was great last week, so we’re going to have some options.

“Nick will be a tough opponent, as will Lenny Hayes, Nick Dal Santo, Brendon Goddard and Leigh Montagna. They’re a side full of talent and we’ll certainly have to be at our best to get the points.”

The Crows host the Saints on the AFL’s biggest stage on Friday night at AAMI Stadium. Click here for tickets and match day information.