AAP, May 6: Melbourne coach Dean Bailey says he expected the flak which has come his way this week, but denies it has raised the stakes for Sunday's AFL clash with Adelaide.
The Demons' dreadful 54-point loss to West Coast last round has prompted queries over whether Bailey will last in the job beyond this season.
But the coach said while the Demons' response at the MCG on Sunday would be heavily scrutinised, that should not be what motivated the players.
"Every week we get tested on character. To put one game ahead of any other is wrong," Bailey said on Friday.
"Our attitude and approach, it has to be hungrier than the week before. We set a poor standard last week and it's got to be better.
"We expect the character to come through every week and it needs to come through on Sunday.
"Every week you get challenged and we didn't perform well last week and we expect the scrutiny to come.
"Our performance on Sunday will be scrutinised again and we just expect a better effort."
Bailey said he welcomed president Jim Stynes' appointment as the club's football director, which was made several weeks ago, but only became public this week amid speculation about Bailey's position.
He was unfazed by the public conjecture about his future.
"It comes with the job," he said.
"All of the coaches are getting examined every week. Every day they get examined on what they're doing and what they're saying."
Bailey said criticism was warranted, given the performance against the Eagles.
"You're only ever judged on your previous performance and our last game against West Coast was really poor. It was really poor in whatever angle you want to look at," he said.
Crows coach Neil Craig, whose 12th-placed team was below the eighth-ranked Demons and also struggling to meet expectations, said he welcomed the challenge of facing a fired-up Melbourne.
"It's a really perfect game for us, for where this group wants to go, the challenges that they need to meet, the AFL hardness that we talk about to keep coming up week after week," Craig said.
"Here is an opportunity for that consistency to continue at a very high level, and you would predict that you have got an opponent where you're going to need it.
"So it's great for our group, for them to face another big test and challenge in that area of the game.
"And it's important that we seek those situations out because they're the ones that you can get a lot of experience from."
Melbourne have made four changes, including recalling forwards Ricky Petterd and Matthew Bate, while the Crows have made three, most notably the return of Rory Sloane from a broken jaw and thumb in round one.