ADELAIDE coach Brenton Sanderson says he didn't handle the pressure well last Friday night as St Kilda slashed a 33-point margin in the final quarter to just four by the final siren.

The incredible turnaround was the second such comeback in a row against Adelaide, after Fremantle overcame a six-goal deficit late in the second term to hit the lead early in the last quarter in round 10.

The rookie coach said he, as well as the players, needed to show clearer thinking in critical situations.

Sanderson admitted he was continually learning from his fellow coaches and his players about how to handle himself in tense moments during games.

"[I] talk a lot about calmness and poise, I think we're getting better at that ... but there's still opportunities for us to get better," Sanderson said.

"I personally didn't handle those moments great in a game - you look at the scoreboard, you look at the clock and you think, 'Time's going to run out here soon'.

"Dean Bailey's been fantastic. I've got Darren Milburn sitting next to me who’s really calm, and obviously (Scott) Camporeale and (Mark) Bickley who provide really good debate at important times.

"You think of Scott Thompson, who can just handle situations really well; we have to keep teaching our younger players that, when we do get in those close games, we can actually handle ourselves."

Sanderson said he didn't want to be seen as the main man at West Lakes and encouraged Thompson and other senior players to voice their opinions of his coaching.

"I don't like the vertical hierarchy where I'm the senior coach and I talk down to players," he said.

"I like it better when we flip it on its side and we actually have a discussion or debate amongst players and coaches where we all have a bit of buy-in.

"We've got some senior players who help discuss some different strategies for different times of the game."

Stopping opposition sides from getting a run on during games is one of Sanderson's main aims for the second half of the season.

Rather than being concerned about being restricted offensively, he said that when scoring became difficult the focus had to be on preventing the opposition from hitting the scoreboard.

Sanderson said he had spoken to the players about momentum shifts ahead of the game against North Melbourne on Sunday at Etihad Stadium, but insisted it was an issue for the rest of the year as well.

"We had a really good session this morning with the players; we touched on it in the review on Monday," he said.

"It's bigger picture stuff for us.

"We'll make sure we're better organised as a coaching group and as a team when it presents opportunities just to control the game a little bit better."

Harry Thring covers Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.