Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson says he’s lost trust in some of his players as he prepares to swing a selection axe to save the Crows’ AFL season.

Sanderson says he must make personnel changes before it’s too late to rescue the Crows, wobbling at one win from three matches.

“It’s not panic stations yet. But we can’t let it go too deep into the season before we start to make some adjustments,” Sanderson told reporters on Thursday.

Asked if his trust in players had been damaged by a poor start to the season, Sanderson said: “It has, no question”.

“There has been too much variance in output at the moment, so we’re looking for players that unconditionally will perform at the standard that is required at AFL level,” he said.

“We will look to get players in our team that can give us that week in, week out – not just every now and again.”

Adelaide on Thursday promoted rookie Rory Laird to their senior list, with the small defender renowned for his competitiveness likely to debut in Sunday’s home match against Western Bulldogs.

“We need some players in our squad that can play on edge for 120 minutes,” Sanderson said.

“I would rather play players that we can trust, that are going to give us that sort of intensity and that sort of passion for a full game – not just in fits and spurts.”

Sanderson bluntly said he wasn’t enjoying coaching at the moment because of his team’s win-loss ratio.

“I’d be enjoying it a lot more if we were winning, but this is the challenges of coaches,” he said.

“Some people have written us off already, which is fine … if anything, it probably fuels the determination to perform better.”

The usually affable Sanderson also bristled when questioned about Adelaide’s inability to cover the loss of Kurt Tippett, the key forward who departed in bitter circumstances to Sydney.

“I’m a little bit tired about hearing about Kurt Tippett still,” he said.

“It’s round four now of the 2013 season. He doesn’t play for us any more.”

Sanderson said the Crows’ capitulation to Port Adelaide last Sunday, giving up a 31-point lead in the third quarter to lose to their arch rivals, was his worst defeat as a head coach.

But he took aim at pundits suggesting the Crows weren’t fit enough, saying Adelaide’s problems were mental, not physical.

“Sides are out-working us and out-running us. That is not a fitness thing. That is determination and will,” he said.

“We’re not playing to a standard at the moment which is acceptable so we’ll make adjustments until we do.”