Coach Brenton Sanderson has described Adelaide’s poor performance against Melbourne as “inexcusable”, saying the Club let its members and supporters down.

The Crows, who only kicked two goals to half time, trailed by 36 points in the second quarter after a “terrible”, error-riddled start.

The home team fought back to be within a goal late in the final term, but wasted opportunities while the Demons took theirs, holding on for a deserved three-point win.

Sanderson lamented Adelaide’s first-half turnovers and poor decision making going forward.

“We kicked the first goal (of the game), but for the next 45 minutes we just played so poorly,” Sanderson said post-match.

“We played into their hands … and kicked it exactly where Melbourne wanted us to, which was to our high-half forward line where they had their extra players. There’s not much system about how we move the ball forward when we’re playing poorly.

“Thankfully, we got a better response in the second half, but the horse had bolted. It was inexcusable today. It was a really disappointing performance. Melbourne beat us in contested ball and clearances - they played better than us today over four quarters.

“We’ll work our boys pretty hard over the next 10 days before we play Collingwood.”

The Crows generated 16 scoring shots to Melbourne’s six in the second half, but managed an inaccurate return of 7.9.

“I wish we took those opportunities in front of goal. I mean, 9.13 to 11.4 isn’t going to win you too many games,” Sanderson said.

“We won the second half by 25 points with only two players on the bench. We had 64 inside 50ms to 41. Melbourne flooded their numbers back and we just couldn’t score.”

Sanderson admitted slow starts were becoming “a major issue” for the Crows, who overcame a four-goal deficit to sneak home against the Western Bulldogs last weekend.

“We talked about it with the players (and asked), ‘What feels wrong? Compare the first quarter to the last quarter, what feels different?’ We’re just not executing the basics and fundamentals early in the game. Typically early in the game, the pressure is hot and the opposition are at you … we’re trying to do too much with the footy,” he said.

“It’s almost when it feels like we can’t win, that’s when we start to play really well. We really let our fans down today. It’s the third game at Adelaide Oval already that we’ve lost. Our fans deserve better than that and they’ll be really angry.

“We’ll train hard and ensure we put in a better four-quarter performance against the Pies.”

The Crows will regain Richard Douglas, who has served a two-game suspension, for the clash with Collingwood but will be without forward Tom Lynch (fractured jaw) and also defender Matthew Jaensch (suspected fractured ribs).

Forward Taylor Walker, veteran defender Ben Rutten, utility Andy Otten and ball winners Brodie Martin and Jarryd Lyons are among the players pushing for AFL recalls.

Sanderson said changes needed to be made after an inconsistent performance across the board.

“Brodie Smith, Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane and Rory Laird were all great. I thought David Mackay was good in the second half and Daniel Talia’s game was incredible. He was our best player, but (we didn’t get) enough from the 21 that played today,” he said.“It’s making us very frustrated because we’re relying on individuals to get us back into the game and not playing as a team. When we play well … we say we had an even contribution from our 22 players and after a loss I’m typically saying, ‘We left it to too few’.

“It was disappointing to lose those two guys (Lynch and Jaensch) early in the game, but we were still full of run late off a six-day break. We can’t keep picking players if they aren’t contributing. Our State League boys play tomorrow. It’s a great opportunity for a few players to play well and, hopefully, put their hand up.

“There’s a long way in the season to go. We’ve got some talent coming back into the team next round. We won’t ever give up or re-evaluate where we at, we’ll just keep trying to win footy games and that starts again in 10 days’ time.”