A tight top eight and hot competition for spots means there’s no room for complacency in the final rounds of the season, Crows veteran Richard Douglas says.
On paper, Adelaide appears to have a favourable run into the finals facing the competition's bottom three teams in the next weeks.
After they play Essendon at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, the Crows host the Brisbane Lions (17th) before travelling to Perth to face Fremantle (16th).
They then take on archrivals Port Adelaide before finishing the regular season with a Friday night clash with West Coast.
Douglas told AFL Media the Crows were keeping themselves to a high standard knowing there were plenty of players waiting in the wings to take their place.
''We've got a lot of guys in good form and pressure for spots is important," Douglas said.
''The strength of our group is we're red-hot on anyone looking too far ahead, because you just can't afford to.
''You see what happens against Geelong if you don't play your best footy, you get found out.
''Essendon have played some good footy of late, they're not a disgrace by any means.
''If we come with that attitude of worrying about what's coming ahead in the next few weeks, we'll be embarrassed."
The Crows will have to restructure their forward line with captain Taylor Walker sidelined with an ankle injury.
Walker is the Crows' third-highest goalkicker this season with 36 majors behind Josh Jenkins (47) and Eddie Betts (45).
Tom Lynch (28) and Mitch McGovern (21) have also kicked more than 20, while Douglas has chipped in with 15.
''That spread of goalkickers is a real weapon for us and it's put us in the position where we are this year,'' Douglas said.
"Taylor is a big loss and a lot of what we do revolves around him so we'll have to reshuffle a bit.
''However, I think we've got the players up front that will still be able to cause Essendon plenty of worries.''
