The Western Bulldogs are taking huge strides of improvement despite consecutive losses to open their AFL season, coach Brendan McCartney says.

The Dogs were defeated by Adelaide by 16 points on Saturday night, leaving McCartney winless after two rounds of the premiership season.

After the Crows bounded to an early four-goal lead at AAMI Stadium, the Bulldogs showed spirit to fight back and hit the front in the last quarter.

But Adelaide booted four of the last five goals to claim an 11.16 (82) to 9.10 (64) victory.

“We’re actually getting our hands on the ball which tells us we’re doing enough right around the ball,” McCartney said.

“The last thing we want to do is move away from that.

“You have to be able to handle the contest and be up for that and deal with it … and we have been more than happy with how we have done that.

“But there are some other parts of the game we’ll work at and there is a long way to go.

“We have come enormously far in some areas, and will keep working away at some things, without panicking, that we can do better.”

McCartney said the Bulldogs showed inexperience in the frenetic final quarter after taking a three-point advantage.

“When you get desperate to win, what happens is you start chasing the ball into areas of the ground where you probably shouldn’t be,” he said.

“That’s okay, but if you don’t get the ball there is not much defence going back the other way.

“It’s a matter of finding that balance between taking that risk of going to an area where you may get the ball but it might be some dire consequences the other way.

“And there are times in a game when you just have say ‘I just need to hold firm here and just keep bashing back in at the ball and see where it takes us’.”

The Dogs host St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.