But Walker says the Crows won’t be sheltered from the harsh fallout from their deflating loss to Geelong last Friday night.

“We have got to own it. There’s no hiding away,” Walker told reporters yesterday.

The Crows lost top spot on the ladder, and their premiership credentials took a hit, with their 22-point defeat in Geelong.

Walker said he was unfazed by widespread criticism of his side’s lacklustre performance.

“It doesn’t bother me how hard people come (at us),” he said.

“People get paid for their opinion and they can have their opinion. But to me, it doesn’t bother me.

“You would think we’re probably bottom of the ladder at the moment, the way the talk is.

“But we’re eight (wins) and three (losses) and we’re playing some okay footy.

“We had a bit of a hiccup on the weekend and I’m super-confident that the resilience in this group, we’ll be able to get through it.”

But Walker said a theme had emerged in Adelaide’s three defeats – an inability to rise to the challenge of opponents.

“This competition is so ruthless now that you have to be unconditional in your effort and intent to win the footy and win your fair share,” he said.

“And at this stage, we’re not at the level.

“And it’s when we get challenged, we need to be able to bounce back and puff the chest out and put it back in the opposition’s face and win our fair share and play it on our terms.

“The most disappointing thing is that we have been able to play our way, bring it into a contest, but the three games that we have lost we haven’t been able to match it.

“I know that we can do it. It’s just disappointing that we can’t do it when we’re challenged at the moment.”

-AAP