Adelaide's caretaker coach Mark Bickley says it's up to his AFL players, not himself, to make a statement on Sunday.

Bickley is seeking a first-up victory as head coach when the Crows clash with Port Adelaide in South Australia's grudge match.

But he won't claim credit for a win, nor seek to instantly stamp his coaching style.

"The club has to make a statement through its players," Bickley told reporters on Friday.

"One of the things I am hoping to achieve is simplify it a little bit for them.

" ... We're hoping there will be some sort of release and that they will be able to come out and play with a feeling that they aren't quite as burdened as what they have appeared over the previous couple of weeks.

"We will make some positional moves, I will appeal to them to have a change in attitude.

"But, at the same time, whatever happens on the weekend, there is going to be some residue from what has been there in the first two-thirds of the year.

"So certainly if we win, I won't be taking the credit for it."

Bickley said Adelaide's players had recovered from their shock on Monday, when Neil Craig quit as coach.

"Whilst early in the week there was a bit of a sombre mood around the place, it has certainly picked up from then," he said.

Bickley maintained the showdown with their arch rivals was not about himself, but all about his players responding from their embarrassing 103-point loss to St Kilda which triggered Craig's resignation.

"We could probably have dropped 18 blokes (but) we can't do that," he said.

"Some of them you have to trust that they will show a response.

"Sometimes when you plumb the depths you learn a lot about your players and you want to see who can respond and who can't."

The dual Crows premiership captain remained non-committal about applying for the vacant coaching job.

"There is no timeframe, the club hasn't said to me `you have to make a decision' so I don't feel as if I have to," Bickley said.

"I just feel it would be prudent to wait and have a look, who knows what is going to happen in the next six weeks."

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