CROWS midfielder Brent Reilly says the pressure is back on Adelaide after the Saturday night’s shock 50-point loss to West Coast.

Three of the AFL’s top four sides experienced defeat in round nine and, given the way the other results unfolded, a win over West Coast would’ve seen the Crows close to within four points and percentage of second spot.

Instead, Adelaide remains six points behind the third-placed Western Bulldogs and is now only half a game clear of North Melbourne and the Sydney Swans.

“Yes, it was a very big opportunity missed,” Reilly said on Monday.

“If we had won, it really would’ve set us up, in the top four, for the year. Unfortunately, we didn’t win and it puts pressure back on us to go out there and perform the way we want to perform.”

On Saturday night, the Crows were beaten convincingly in the contested footy by a desperate West Coast smarting from seven-consecutive losses. But Reilly said Adelaide’s performance was not a result of complacency.

“Contested footy is a key area for us and we play very well when our contested ball is up. It was well down on Saturday and it was very disappointing the way we played and how we performed at the contests,” Reilly said.

“It’s hard to put your finger on [why the contested footy was down], but West Coast played very well. Every time we got the ball out of a clearance, they were on to us.

“Their time and space clearances compared to ours was a lot different and the way they played was a credit to them.

“I don’t think [it was complacency]. We’ve only won three games in 10 years at Subiaco and we set ourselves to change that stat on Saturday.

“It was very disappointing the way we played, but the positive is that we’re not where we want to be, so there is a lot of improvement left in us.”

The Crows will now face the 14th-placed Essendon at AAMI Stadium on Friday night and Reilly said his team would be prepared if the Bombers tried to emulate West Coast’s physical approach.

“West Coast came out fired up on the weekend. They were bumping us and getting right into us and, if we want to be a top-four side, that’s the stuff we have to be able to handle,” he said.

“We’ve handled it before and in every other game this year, we’ve been in the positives for the contested ball, so we know we can do it.”

The Crows will train Tuesday night ahead of their first of two Friday night games for the season.

Injured onballer Brad Symes had his moon boot removed on Monday and will start running again this week, but is expected to be two weeks away from playing.

Kris Massie’s hamstring injury is also expected to take two weeks while Brad Moran (hamstring) is three weeks away.

Reilly said the Crows were keen to avenge Saturday night’s embarrassing loss and also the two defeats suffered at the hands of Essendon last season.

“They beat us twice last year, including round one when they beat us here [at AAMI Stadium]. They are a good side, even though Kevin Sheedy is gone and a few personnel have gone, they’ve still got a young list with some very good players,” Reilly said.

“It’s our first free-to-air game on Friday night this year and we’re looking forward to showing the nation how we can really play.”