The improved connection between midfield and forward was a key takeaway for Adelaide coach Don Pyke in Friday night's 26-point victory over Sydney at the SCG.

However, Pyke believes that part of the game remains a "work in progress" and he knows his club will need to show continued improvement as it gets set for a showdown with Geelong at Adelaide Oval next Thursday night.

The Crows scored just 55 points from 58 inside 50s in a 32-point loss to Hawthorn in round one, but an increased focus on forward efficiency paid dividends against the Swans. 

Adelaide's 53 inside 50s yielded 88 points against Sydney, with Bryce Gibbs, Rory Atkins and the returning Paul Seedsman instrumental in lifting their side in this area of the game.

 

"I thought we improved tonight. I would say it's still a work in progress and it's probably the toughest kick in footy to be honest, especially nowadays with teams being effective getting players back there as well," Pyke said.

"The space is less to operate in and I thought we had some really good connection at times, but I thought we missed some as well.

"We'll keep working on that."

CROWS WIN: Adelaide defeat Sydney by 26 points at the SCG

The spread of goalkickers was the most impressive thing from an Adelaide point of view, with nine individual goalkickers contributing to its 12.16 scoreline.

Pyke was also impressed with his side's ability to keep Sydney to 62 points for the game, with the defence standing up in the absence of Tom Doedee who has been lost to the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

"You always want to get a win on the board early in the year and coming up here you'd rather be going home at 1-1 than 0-2, so that was a motivation. But as I said, for us it was about getting back to what it was going to take to win tonight," Pyke said.

That's one thing we spoke about last week was that ability to defend the ball and defend it hard. They had 55 inside 50s against, and to keep them to eight goals was a really good effort.

INJURY UPDATE: Steve Saunders provides updates on Jacobs and Jenkins

Ruckman Sam Jacobs should be fine despite tweaking his right knee in the third quarter of the game and spending in excess of 10 minutes in the changerooms receiving treatment.

"He had a little tweak of the knee. We're not really sure what that will be. We'll get that checked. He's OK and he was obviously good enough to come back on, so fingers crossed that that's nothing significant," Pyke said.

"It certainly doesn't appear that way so we're pretty hopeful he'll be right." 

Josh Jenkins also copped a knock to his shoulder, but the injury is considered minor.

Pyke said the match-up against Geelong was a significant test with a six-day turnaround.

"That's another great challenge. We can enjoy tonight for getting a win on the board and the work we put in this week, but they (the tough games) keep coming," Pyke said.

"We'll dust off and get organised and get ready to attack that one."