Adelaide will need to rediscover it’s renowned defensive pressure it showed against Collingwood if it is to stop the fast-rising SUNS at Adelaide Oval, said Crows midfielder Scott Thompson.

The South Australian powerhouse looked to have their season back on track with a menacing tackling display against the Pies, but that manic pressure disappeared against the Blues, with the Crows falling away in a scrappy clash at the MCG on Sunday night.

“(Our) tackles can vary week-to-week; total tackles is just a number and we just look at tackles made, that’s the key indicator for us,” Thompson told 7 News.

Like the rest of the AFL fraternity, Thompson held out anxiously for the Match Review Panel’s findings, waiting on the edge of his seat to find out whether or not Gary Ablett would be cleared to lead his Gold Coast midfield against Adelaide in Sunday’s clash.

The Crows champion admitted he had high hopes of facing a third-placed SUNS brigade short of their two-time Brownlow Medal-winning superstar.

“It would have been nice if the Match Review Panel gave him a week, but as a whole we will do our best to shut him down,” he said.

While Thompson might say Ablett is the player perceived most dangerous heading into the round eleven fixture, those who have watched these two teams in recent seasons may differ in opinion.

Thompson has been nothing short of spectacular against the SUNS, averaging 35 disposals against the budding expansion side, including a 52-possession performance when the two AFL challengers met for the second time in 2011.

Guy McKenna, who remembers all too well the 61-point defeat the SUNS suffered on that disappointing afternoon, said his coaching panel would strategise adequately when it came to stopping the likes of Thompson, Crowd reigning Best and Fairest winner Rory Sloane and midfield jet Patrick Dangerfield.

“… Talk about scarring and nightmares, I think he raised his back the first two times he played Gold Coast, going for 53 and 56 possession-like performances, so we certainly not hoping he gets another half century against us,” McKenna said.

“Some clubs match up well against other clubs; you could say we do well against Richmond and I’m not sure how that happens but we do, but clearly Scott Thompson has a good history against us so we can’t afford to let that happen because Adelaide is a great side we haven’t beaten.

“(And) then you throw in....Dangerfield, Sloane – the list goes on. They’ve got some quality players and starting to play some quality football so it’s going to be all hands on deck.”