Adelaide Assistant Coach Scott Burns says the young Crows team will not shy away from the challenge of playing one of the best teams in the competition.

The Crows will take on the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat on Saturday, in what is expected to be cold wet and windy conditions.

Burns said his side would need to be at its best against the Bulldogs and the midfield battle would be hotly contested.

“There’s one thing you do know against the Doggies and especially if it is a wet and slippery game, it’s going to be about contest as much as anything,” Burns said.

“It’s going to be a different game, one that we haven’t played too much this year in terms of weather and winds, but it’s one of the ones the boys are pretty excited about.

“It’s a great challenge because we rate the Doggies very, very highly.

“We’ve got some younger players who are pretty ruthless with their attack on the ball and they won’t die wondering.

“They might give off one or two kilos but they’ll be putting their head over it and trying as hard as they possibly can.”

Burns said the side wanted to build on the performance it put out during its Round 19 win against Hawthorn at Marvel Stadium last weekend.

“We want to make sure the 22 we take into this game are fit, fresh and they’re ready to go,” Burns said.

“We’ve gone away and worked on a few things with how we want to move the ball.

“We are (also) working on things all the time defensively to get better, not only individually but as a team defence.

“There’s a lot of hope and belief that we are on the right journey and the coaches, not only the players want to be on that same bus all the way through.”

Adelaide plays Western Bulldogs at Mars Stadium, Ballarat, with the first bounce at 11.50am (ACST).