Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has warned senior players no position in the side would be safe ahead of Sunday’s clash with Gold Coast.

Following the heavy defeat to Port Adelaide on Saturday, Nicks told Triple M’s The Rush Hour that it was “unacceptable” to play that standard of football.

“If we don’t stand up in the contest, we’ll have to make changes… we have to put players in who will do that,” Nicks said.

“It will be our older players who we’ll have to move to one side if they don’t get it done."

The Crows coaches and players reviewed the “confronting” loss on Monday, with one glaring issue presenting itself to Nicks.

“We have a fair bit of work to do around prioritising defence,” Nicks said.

“We played against a side that was outstanding in that area.

“It may look like it through the TV that their offense is getting them the win, but it’s also about the defence.

“When you’re not prioritising your defence, it makes you look like you’re not trying.

“I understand our fans, we have work to do and it won’t be something that will right itself straight away.”

Adelaide’s coaching staff will sweat on the fitness of captain Rory Sloane before discussing selection in detail.

Sloane suffered a corked right thigh on Saturday night which ended his night early.

“At this point we’re waiting on Sloaney… it was a nasty cork,” Nicks said.

“Today was a review process, we’ll start to nail down on the Gold Coast from this point on.”