Collingwood's confidence about their AFL semi-final against Adelaide is based largely upon the team's ability to get in behind the Crows' defensive zone.

They did this successfully and crucially in the round-19 match at AAMI Stadium, and consequently posted a 21-point victory despite having only 41 attacking 50m entries to Adelaide's 57.

The manner of those entries made all the difference, with many of Adelaide's attacks on the shallow side, allowing the Magpies to rebound and run through midfield before the home side had a chance to re-set.

Due to the pressing nature of Adelaide's 2009 zone, this often left Crows defenders outnumbered in the defensive 50m zone, resulting in a succession of simple Magpie goals.

Adelaide assistant coach Todd Viney, a past master of zone tactics through his involvement with Hawthorn's 2008 premiership model, said the Crows were acutely aware this could not be allowed to happen again.

"There's lots of things we didn't quite do right, from a whole game perspective," Viney said on Wednesday.

"We've analysed the game a lot during the time and worked out some things.

"We've worked on those non-stop throughout the year and we're in a pretty good position at the moment and we think we've improved a lot.

"Some of the transition (into attack) fell short and that's credit to Collingwood too for some of the pressure they put on.

"But if you fall down in that transition and get shallow entries, it doesn't matter what type of defence you have, the opposition will score, and that was one part of the game that wasn't great for us."

Viney pointed out that the Crows had since become a far more efficient team, as shown by their kicking 27 goals (59 forward 50m entries) and 26 goals (61 forward 50m entries) in the past two weeks.

"From a defensive point of view, the way we move the ball, there's a lot of different scenarios in a game you need to do well to make sure the opposition don't get the better of you," he said.

"We probably didn't do a lot right in the game, one was not making the most of our scoring opportunities. We went inside 50m a lot more than the opposition.

"I think the way we're using our forward line and our efficiency is a lot better at the moment and one example of how we've improved."

As for Collingwood's confidence, Viney said they would find out how well-founded or otherwise it was on Saturday night.

"That's great if they're that confident," he said.

"We've developed continually throughout the year, we're playing some pretty good footy, we've got a good list, had a good break and looking forward to the contest."

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