ASSISTANT coach Ben Hart says Adelaide won't seek to take the pressure off the players or embattled coach Neil Craig by using the club's young list as an excuse.

Craig has refused to use the profile of his squad as an excuse for the team's slow start to the season, and Hart said terms such as rebuilding or development phase were not being discussed.

Craig, the Crows' longest-serving coach has received heavy criticism for the Adelaide's disappointing start, which was compounded by a 96-point loss to Melbourne last weekend.

Critics have also questioned Craig's declaration that the current playing list is the "most exciting" he's coached during his seven-year tenure at Adelaide.

On Monday night, Sydney Swans premiership coach Paul Roos suggested Craig remove the outside expectations on the team by conceding the club is rebuilding following the recent retirements of stalwarts Andrew McLeod, Simon Goodwin, Tyson Edwards and Brett Burton.

However, Hart dismissed the suggestion, saying the only way the team would improve on its 2-4 start to the season was by maintaining those expectations.

"We're really clear with the group we have, what their abilities are and where they can get to," Hart said on Thursday.

"It is an exciting list…but whether we're young and developing [or not] we still set standards at this footy club and it doesn't matter if you're an 18-year-old and have played three games, or if you're a 30-year-old and played 200 games. The standards we set, we want maintained and upheld are there for everyone.

"As a coaching group, we truly believe this group can get to those standards.

"Are we there yet and can we uphold that standard consistently? Probably not, but it's what we're striving for."

Adelaide's loss to Melbourne was it's biggest since July, 2004 when the club lost to reigning premiers the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba by 141 points.

Hart admitted his team went into the game with the wrong mindset and said the coaches had demanded a response from the players against Gold Coast at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.

"We don’t know why [played so poorly], but it's something that's not what we want to do or how we want to be perceived," he said.

"It [our performance] did come out of the box a little bit, but the beauty of footy is that you get a chance to atone.

"It should burn in the guts. You don't want to live with it the whole way and have it in the forefront of your mind, but it should be burning and you shouldn't want to go back to feeling that.

"It's a standard we really need to raise and after last week's game this week's game couldn't come around quick enough."

Katrina Gill covers Adelaide news for afl.com.au. Follow her on Twitter: @AFL_KatrinaGill