THE CROWS have experienced, firsthand, the damage a struggling Melbourne team can do if not afforded the respect they deserve.

In round 10 last season, the high-flying Crows were coming off three consecutive wins and overwhelming favourites against the winless Dees. But they were taught a valuable lesson with Melbourne running out 17-point winners.

The Dees' first victory of the season against Fremantle two weeks ago means history cannot be repeated exactly.

However, according to forward Brett Burton, the fourth-placed Crows remain wary of their bottom-of-the-ladder opponents.

“It’s going to be a very interesting game,” Burton said on Monday.

“Obviously, they’ve got confidence after having their first win of the season. They would’ve reviewed it over the week and then had the weekend off, so they’ll be raring to go.

“I guess you always draw back on the last time you played them. We realise that we lost to them last year when they were under the pump, so we’re wary of that.

“We know we want to rectify it, so that’s certainly in our thinking as well.

“I never read into ‘danger’ games. Every game is a danger game in a sense because at the start of the game is a 50-50 contest. They’ve obviously won their last game and we won our last game, so we’ll be starting on an even keel."

Adelaide, after conceding five losses at AAMI Stadium in 2007, has rediscovered its ability to win at home, claiming all four games at the venue this season.

Melbourne, on the other hand, has not won against the Crows in Adelaide since round two, 2001.

“We really want to concentrate on keeping our home game winning record up,” Burton said.

“We’ve been good this year, but it was something that we were poor at last year, so we’ll be focussing on that.

“Sunday's game is another game where we need to put ourselves on show, continue to improve and implement the game plans we’ve played with in the first seven rounds.

“We haven’t been playing sensational footy, but we’ve been getting some wins and we just need to keep moving along.”

Burton also urged fans to get along to Sunday afternoon's clash with Melbourne.

A combination of factors, including two Saturday afternoon fixtures against teams with a low supporter base, has kept Adelaide’s crowd numbers down at AAMI Stadium in 2008.

“I can’t understand why the games haven’t been sell-outs,” Burton said.

“I’m not sure on the exact figures, but last year it seemed like every home game was a sell-out. In my mind, we’re playing more exciting footy this year.

“We’ve been scoring higher, an average of three more goals a game I think, we’ve got 13 new players at the club, so that’s really exciting too.

“I’d encourage any Crows supporter or any footy fan to get along to the games and show your true colours.

“The sell-outs over the past few years haven’t given the average punter an opportunity to come along and have a look, so it’s a great chance for people, families, kids who don’t usually come to the footy, to come and experience it.”