Adelaide coach Neil Craig says it's a "fair call" not to rate the Crows' AFL chances following their potentially misleading start to 2008.

However Craig says his team will be out to prove their worth as contenders over the next two months, starting with an awkward match-up against a stung Richmond side at the MCG on Saturday.

"Probably externally I can understand why that would be the case, and it's fair enough," Craig said of the view that Adelaide are likely to slip back into the pack as the year goes on.

"We're still a developing side, very much a developing side.

"Until you get that recognition from outside, we're still not considered in the top three or four in the competition, even though we sit fourth at the moment, and I think that's a fair call.

"From tomorrow's game onwards, the draw on paper based on where sides sit is considerably more difficult."

Richmond's quality, at least in the eyes of neutral observers, was downgraded considerably by last week's surrender to the seasoned Sydney Swans.

But Craig looked at a triumvirate of close matches against the Western Bulldogs, Geelong and Hawthorn as proof that Terry Wallace's side was on the way up.

"We talk about what happens after this game with the draw we've got, I think it starts this week," Craig said.

"With their consistent form against some top class sides it starts this week for us."

The absence of ex-Crow and now Tiger captain Kane Johnson will provide some advantage for Adelaide, though the visitors will no doubt miss the leap of the banned Brett Burton.

Tigers marking target Matthew Richardson has been winning rave reviews for playing further up the ground this year, and Craig may toy with a box office match-up such as Andrew McLeod or Simon Goodwin.

"Everyone's suggested that Nathan Bock is the logical match-up, Nathan could go there (to the wing) and do a good job, but Nathan's been really good for us in defence and suits our structure," Craig said.

"Andrew McLeod could play on him, and Andrew versus Richardson on a wing would be a dangerous match-up for both sides, Andrew's got some speed, evasion, whereas Richo pushes forward on him quickly.

"Simon Goodwin could play there, so we've got some options."

Poor goalkicking has dogged Adelaide over the past two weeks, leading to an ugly aggregate of 14.37 across two games.

Craig said he had no intention of just ignoring the issue and hoping it would go away.

"We've got the issue of 14.37 the last two weeks so it's there and you can think 'don't put it in people's minds and it'll be okay'," he said.

"That's not the way we want to do it, we've fronted up, it's poor, we need to fix it quickly because it will cost us - we can play really well and yet lose the game and we don't want that.

"What we've got to do is keep patient with ourselves and as long as we understand we've addressed it, we acknowledge it, and history shows if you have that attitude then things will turn for us."

Adelaide will take the field tomorrow in their red clash guernsey, hoping to remove the "unlucky" tag Crows fans have attached to it.

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