WATCHING his side slip into old habits and fail to grasp another golden opportunity was like being stuck in a "bad dream" for Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson.

 

A win against West Coast on Saturday could have propelled the Crows to sixth position by the end of round 19, but their shock 31-point loss will see them fall out of the top eight if either Collingwood or Gold Coast wins this weekend.

 

The scenario would undo the tremendous effort it took to sneak into the eight last weekend, when the side upset the Magpies at the MCG.

 

Sanderson was scathing of his players' performance, describing it as nightmarish.

 

"[Attacking delivery was] slow, wide and when we did kick it in there we bombed it high, which just played into their hands," Sanderson said.

 

"It didn't give our forwards much of a chance.

 

"I thought our defenders were badly beaten, our midfielders got touched up and our forwards, although they kicked a couple of goals, the ball just sort of came out of there too easy.

 

"It was like a bad dream after those four goals."

 

Sanderson dismissed the impact of his side's six-day turnaround from last Sunday's win over Collingwood, claiming its bye the week before meant fatigue played no part against the Eagles.

 

A limp final term from the Crows, in which they were outscored six goals to one suggested they struggled to run the game out.

 

But the coach said that was often the case when teams were completely outplayed.

 

"We had a bye two weeks ago, the boys played out of their skin six days ago against Collingwood but the reality is in this industry if you've got a six-day break you're expected to come up and play well," he said.

 

"Plenty of sides have won this year on a six-day break so that's not an issue for us, it's certainly not an excuse for how we performed.

 

"When you can't win the footy you look like you're tired."

 

The only aspect of Saturday's loss that was out of the club's hands was the injury to Daniel Talia suffered in the second quarter.

 

Talia has been one of the AFL's best full-backs this year but was subbed out of the game at half-time with concussion, after a stray knee to his cheek.

 

In his absence, Eagle Josh Kennedy ran rampant, booting five goals and taking nine marks on the lead.

 

As well as Talia's concussion, James Podsiadly broke his nose in the final term.