COACH Matthew Nicks says breaking Adelaide's MCG hoodoo is vital as his club's season reaches a tipping point.
The Crows play Hawthorn on Saturday at the MCG, a venue where they haven't won since July 1, 2017.
Adelaide has lost its past nine games at the 'G, but its past three defeats at the famous stadium have been by four, four and two points.
"We're playing at a venue that we haven't had the best record at," Nicks told reporters on Wednesday.
"We love playing there, but we haven't had an outcome that we have been pleased with, so we're really keen to go over there and give it our best crack."
The Crows, with four wins, a draw and six losses, are 12th on the ladder but 10 premiership points adrift of eighth-placed Carlton.
"We really want this one," Nicks said of the clash against the Hawks.
"We understand what a win will mean for us just as far as our season goes.
"If you look at how the ladder is shaping up, there is beginning to be a little bit of a gap there from the top and possibly what will be the bottom.
"So we have got a choice to make whether we want to stay connected to that top group."
Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson walked laps while his teammates trained on Wednesday, but Nicks dismissed any doubt over the playmaker's fitness for Saturday's game.
"We're in a six-day break and a five-day break at the moment, we're right in the middle of that," he said.
"So (we) pre-planned to come in and give 'Daws' a little bit of a recovery week."
Dawson was best afield in the Crows' 99-point drubbing of West Coast on Sunday, a result that fuelled Adelaide's belief it could recover from a 0-4 start to the season.
"We've had a block, probably about seven games, where we found our footy has been played at a pretty good standard," Nicks said.
"We haven't got results that we're after necessarily throughout that, we have had a draw, we've lost a couple by a kick – and ultimately you're judged on win-loss.
"You'd say it's been a disappointing block of seven if it's just our results. But we've been confident and a lot of belief has been building around how we're playing."
