ADELAIDE coach Brenton Sanderson said he'll show Essendon "no mercy" when the two sides clash on Saturday night.
The Crows will take on the Bombers at Etihad Stadium with a place in the top eight on the line should Geelong beat Gold Coast.
As much as he felt sorry for the Essendon players in having to deal with Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority's investigation, he said beating them would be the club's only focus.
"Certainly you have to [sympathise] with what the players are going through and I know it's a messy situation," Sanderson said.
"But there won't be any mercy this week for sure, this is our opponent and we need to win.
"[It's] a big opportunity for us, particularly when you play a side who's exactly where you are on the ladder.
"There's a few of us on the outside looking in and we need a few results to go our way for the rest of the season as well but all we can do is win games of footy."
Crucial to breaking Adelaide's trend of alternating between wins and losses will obviously be its ability to hit targets.
Sanderson again criticised his club's kicking efficiency, claiming that when it lost, its poor disposal by foot was often largely to blame.
"We said it after [last week's] game, this has to end the win-loss-win-loss," he said.
"It's effort combined with execution, the effort's been there consistently but the execution hasn't been.
"If you look at our numbers, our kicking efficiency is one that really stands out – in our losses it's been below 60 per cent.
"Essendon's pressure is very good, they're the number one side at preventing inside 50s in the competition…we're going to have to be really on top of our game if we're going to beat this side."
Exciting young forward Charlie Cameron will miss his second-straight game this week with groin soreness and has been allowed to return home to Newman, Western Australia.
The 19-year-old hasn't benefited from a week off as he played in the reserves when the seniors had a bye and played AFL when the SANFL had a bye.
Sanderson hoped Cameron would be available for selection next week but conceded he might need another on the sidelines.
