ADELAIDE superstar Patrick Dangerfield says consistency of performance is separating his club from the competition's best.
The Crows outscored Fremantle for three quarters on Saturday, but were made to pay for a one-goal-to-four second term, going down by just seven points.
Dangerfield said Adelaide's best was capable of beating any side in the AFL, but the top teams were able to maintain their best for longer.
"We've played some really good footy against some of the better sides, we played good footy against Hawthorn but it'd be nice to be able to knock one of them off," Dangerfield said.
"If we play our best footy, we're more than capable of matching it with them, but the good sides play really good footy for the 120 minutes of the game and they don't drop off.
"That's what we need to be able to do to match them."
The 23-year-old insisted the club must take full responsibility for its vulnerable position outside of the top eight.
A win over the Dockers would have cemented their spot in the eight, but the Crows will find themselves a win behind eighth by the end of round 11.
Last year's preliminary finalists are still yet to beat a higher-ranked team in 2013.
Dangerfield said his side's spot on the ladder was an accurate reflection of its standing in the competition.
"We've played some good games of footy but we haven't got the result, we've played some really poor games of footy where we've got the result we deserved," Dangerfield said.
"We've put ourselves in this situation that we're in … you'd like to win the close ones and to ply a bit better in certain parts of games, but the position that we're in we've got no one to blame but ourselves."
Adelaide will get another shot at a top-four side this weekend against the third-placed Sydney Swans.
The club's hard-fought loss to Fremantle at the weekend was apt preparation for the reigning premiers who, like the Dockers, have a heavy focus on defence and thrive in contested situations.
"They're a huge challenge for us given the form that they’ve been in and what they were able to achieve last season," he said.
"They've been really good, I think Hawthorn's another on that's been in very good form and so have Geelong.
"They (Swans and Fremantle) play similar game styles, they're both very good contested ball sides and both have very good midfields.
"I suppose it's a good thing we play them back to back."
Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
