North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has made contested possessions the focus for the Kangaroos to break their Adelaide hoodoo and get their AFL season on level terms.

On top of being thumped by Collingwood last week is a clash with the resurgent Crows, who last Sunday broke through for their first win of the season and carry an eight-game hold over North entering Saturday night's match at Etihad Stadium.

Scott admitted North had struggled with Adelaide's game plan in recent seasons and needed to lift if they were to beat them for the first time since round one of 2004.

"The footy they've played in the last quarter (last Sunday against Richmond) is really reflective of the way Adelaide can play," Scott said on Friday.

"Most of the AFL community has expected Adelaide to be a top-four or top-five side this year and they've produced the footy we all know they're capable of.

"We know it's going to be a challenge this week and we've had a really poor record against them in the past, so we're looking forward to turning that round."

Scott put an emphasis on his young players winning the hard ball, as they were soundly beaten in that area by the Magpies.

"We were really disappointed to lose the contested ball by as much (156-135) as we did last week," he said.

"If you can do that, get on top in that particular stat, then the game's being played your way and not their's.

"That's the key area for us, I think."

North can at least draw on a knack of rebounding well from poor defeats, as they beat West Coast a week after they were embarrassed by St Kilda in round two, and upset Hawthorn the round after they were out-classed by Sydney in round four.

But Scott's focus is on getting North into a position where they can push to get their win-loss record into the black.

"At three (wins) and four (losses) it's a huge game for us and we really need to get our season back on track and eventually get our heads above water," he said.

"There's a huge difference between four and four, and three and five."

North are hopeful the inclusion of young forward Josh Smith can give the Roos another marking target in attack given Drew Petrie is still a minimum two games away from returning from a foot injury.

"We really feel we need a strong marking presence in the forward line to assist David Hale," said Scott, whose team is third-last on the points-for table this season, while the Crows are second-last and ahead of only Richmond.

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