ADELAIDE midfielder Rory Sloane says the Crows may have been 'over-excited' to be playing finals when they lost to the Sydney Swans last weekend, and will prove the doubters wrong against Fremantle.

The 29-point qualifying final loss to the Swans only strengthened the views of skeptics who said Adelaide did not deserve a double chance in the finals.

Several commentators, including now-Carlton coach Mick Malthouse, dismissed Adelaide as a premiership contender, suggesting a 'soft draw' in which the Crows faced GWS, Gold Coast and Port Adelaide twice, had over-inflated its results.

But Sloane said the playing group shared no such doubts and the side's self-belief was strong.

"We wouldn't have thought (we would) end up top-two or top-four at the end of last year where we were, but still we're here now," he said.

"We deserve to be here and we're going to prove that this weekend."

The 22-year-old said Saturday's defeat was "a hiccup" and said he was one player who needed to lift his game against Freo on Friday night.

The Crows were cut to pieces on the outside against the Swans and Sloane said it may have been because the players were over-excited to be playing finals football.

They focused too heavily on winning the hard ball, allowing the Swans to dominate once the ball emerged from the contest.

Sloane insisted the club's game plan could hold up under finals pressure, as long as the players didn't waste the ball like they did last Saturday.

"As it's been well recognised, we didn't have such a good balance (between contested and uncontested play) on the weekend," he said.

"You've got to have guys around the footy and guys wining the contested ball, but you also need that balance as well - it's a tough thing to get right, but I think we should be fine this weekend.

"We definitely burnt the ball on the weekend and I think Sydney's pressure probably got to us … we had so many chances and we just didn't maximize them.

"We've definitely had that focus this week to use the ball a lot better going forward and just to play better as a team."

Fremantle enters Friday night's contest having lost only one of its last 10 games, but that loss came at AAMI Stadium against the Crows in round 20, when the home side kicked away in the second half.

The Crows also win in round 10 when the sides clashed at Patersons Stadium.

Sloane said these recent successes gave the Crows confidence they could advance to a preliminary final.

"The style of game that we play stands up against them and the way that we transition the ball and get it moving forward quickly to our forwards can work," he said.

"Obviously there's a bit of confidence in that."

Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.