Adelaide coach Neil Craig was predictably heard preaching against complacency as his side revved up to resume their AFL season by facing lowly Melbourne at AAMI Stadium.

The Dees' win over Fremantle a fortnight ago has at least removed the prospect of Adelaide presenting Melbourne with a first win of the year, as they did in 2007 at the MCG.

That result was at the forefront of Craig's mind on Thursday as he assessed the pressure of expectation common to the three sides - Hawthorn, Geelong and the Western Bulldogs - above his on the AFL ladder.

"It's a different expectation, Geelong and Hawthorn face it every week, Western Bulldogs face it every week at the moment, as in an expectation you should beat all these teams," Craig said.

"We face it to a certain extent because of our reasonable form at 5-2 and we're playing a side that's won one game, so that's added pressure for us, but all it means is that our preparation has to be spot on.

"There's no guarantee of win or loss in high performance sport, and I'd like to think we don't need to be reminded of that as a club, and our preparation hasn't changed, it's always diligent.

"If we do need reminding just look back to last year when Melbourne were 0-9, so I'm sure our guys will be spot on, and we'll get judged by our performance on the day."

Ben Rutten will make his return to the side via last week's Dream Team duty, while Brent Reilly is a better than even chance of resuming after his broken wrist healed.

Both were named alongside Ivan Maric, Ken McGregor and Luke Jericho in Adelaide's 25-man squad for Sunday.

Craig said he was enjoying the array of options now at his disposal after an injury-dotted start to the season.

"In some areas it is (welcome), you would expect Ben to come back in, Reilly is important in our midfield set-up and just our whole general midfield," he said.

"Ken McGregor to his credit has been really solid in the SANFL, a really good game last week, Ivan Maric has been patient and then we've got the guys who've come in like James Sellar and Jarrhan Jacky, so it's nice to have some people available."

Also pressing on various levels are young trio Andy Otten, Taylor Walker and Victorian-based draftee Patrick Dangerfield, though Craig indicated that the return of more experienced options meant he could spend a little more time smoothing their rough edges.

"Andy Otten has been quite outstanding what he's been able to do at SANFL league level from under 18 level, and he's working on a couple areas we think he needs to get much better at," he said.

"Taylor Walker has got some talent but also needs to do a bit more work and clean up some areas.

"Dangerfield's an interesting one, he's been an emergency a few times, I'm not adverse to playing him, but it probably wouldn't be our preferred option ... in terms of our game knowledge he's not up to the level he should be."

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