Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has addressed criticism for using water bottles to explain his direction for the players at half time.

The Crows were dealt a 69-point defeat by North Melbourne in Round Nine on Saturday and footage of Nicks using water bottles and bananas became a talking point.

“It was a simple demonstration of what we weren’t doing,” Nicks told the media on Monday.

“There were some bananas and water bottles there, so we used it.

“Really it was a basic instruction… we’re doing a lot of our work in front of cameras, so we’re not hiding from the small things we’re working on.

“If we can’t get the basic right, then we’re going to really struggle to compete at this level.”

 Nicks conceded the loss was a significant step back for the Club following promising signs against Essendon in Round Eight.

“We’re making progress, pushing sides and then we really dropped off,” Nicks said.

“It’s a tough one to swallow… it’s important we bounce back and get on the steps again this week.

“I think I used the language ‘the level’, you need to be at the level to compete.

“We’ve reviewed, sat down, tried to find answers why and we believe we’ve found those.”

Adelaide will take on Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday night at 7.40pm ACST.