Embattled Adelaide coach Neil Craig accepts full responsibility for his AFL club's woeful season, even though it might cost him his job.

Craig describes his 14th-placed outfit as "underperforming" but is shielding players from criticism, despite making six changes for Saturday night's home game against Sydney.

"We are an underperforming team, that is the snapshot," Craig said on Friday.

"Irrespective of the profile of the squad, the cold hard facts are we are an underperforming team, and no one wants an underperforming team, and that is my responsibility because I am in charge of the team."

Craig said the proverbial target should be on his back, rather than his players who have delivered just three wins this season.

"That is the position I hold and that is the responsibility that you are given when you sit in the chair," he said.

"There is good reason for that, because I am in charge of performance, am I not?

"When it all boils down and you look at performances that are good, bad or indifferent, that is my area of responsibility."

But Craig is adamant the Crows will not "self-destruct" as they miss the finals for the second season in a row.

"Every team has these periods but. if you become accepting of them, nothing changes," Craig said.

"But you also can't sit there and self destruct and say 'we're the only footy club in the history of the game to have been through this'.

"That is our challenge, to get out of it."

Of Craig's six changes for the night fixture against the Swans, only two were forced - Ricky Henderson (concussion) and Chris Schmidt (knee).

Half-forward Chris Knights was dumped along with three novices - defender Luke Thompson, tall utility Shaun McKernan and young forward Jack Gunston.

"It's not a knee-jerk reaction to the Geelong game but certainly the four to go out because of performance have had a reasonable go," he said, referring to Adelaide's heavy loss last Sunday in Geelong.

Defender Daniel Talia will debut against Sydney, becoming Adelaide's 37th player used this season.

The Swans made four changes to their side which was pipped by Collingwood last weekend, with Kieran Jack (ankle) and Nick Malceski (groin) among the exclusions due to injury.

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