Adelaide must recover rapidly in both body and mind to match it with a revved-up Port Adelaide in the South Australian showdown on Saturday night.

The Crows were a somewhat sore looking bunch - youngster Patrick Dangerfield sporting an ice pack on his right knee - when they touched down in Adelaide on Monday following the low-scoring arm-wrestle against Melbourne at the MCG.

Apart from the physical hurdle of having two days less to prepare than the Power, who were thumped by St Kilda last Friday night, the Crows must find a way to stay on message for a whole game.

Against the Demons, Adelaide were able to scrape to the win despite an abject second half that had them lose much of the intent and aggression required to succeed.

To drop off like that again against a Port side set to yo-yo back up from the Saints' hiding would surely spell defeat and a 3-3 ledger after six rounds of 2009.

"(Melbourne) did get on top in the contested ball area, first half we were very good in that area, but that's something we need to add to our game," Crows onballer Scott Thompson said on Monday.

"If you look at the best sides going around in St Kilda and Geelong, they're very consistent across four quarters and if we want to get to that level it is something we've got to work on.

"(Port Adelaide's) best football can match it with anyone so if we're going to win on the weekend we'll need to string four quarters together."

Thompson highlighted the need for a diligent recovery period this week given the extra days Port have had up their sleeves.

"Recovery is going to be very important, a short week but the boys have had a recovery session this morning, we'll focus on a light week on the track no doubt and look forward to Saturday night," he said.

"(Extra days off) is a big advantage, Port played Friday night so they have the luxury of an extra couple of days off and their recovery's already an extra couple of days ahead of us."

Among the players needing to lift their rating is promising young forward Taylor Walker, who kicked 1.3 against the Demons but spent extensive time on the bench in the second half.

Midfielder Chris Knights is a chance to resume following an eye-socket injury.

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