A formidable contest awaits the Blues this weekend: an in-form Adelaide Crows on a six-game winning streak.

Speaking to the media ahead of the Sunday afternoon clash, Carlton coach Brendon Bolton said the Crows would pose a great challenge for the Blues.

“They (Adelaide) are in really good form,” Bolton said.

“It’s another challenge.”

Averaging over 30 shots on goal, the travelling side’s dominance inside forward-50 will test Carlton’s all-ground defence.

“It’s not just about match-ups down back, it’s about collective team defence,” he said.

“If they (Adelaide) get enough supply that’s unpressured, they’ll hurt any team.

“We need a really good, collective defensive effort this week.”

As well as a resilient defensive performance, Bolton said his charges would need to be more efficient in their forward half after wasting their scoring opportunities in last week’s 12-point loss to Collingwood.

The Blues had three more inside-50s than the Magpies, but two less scoring shots.

“We want to score heavily every week,” he said.

“We’ve got some areas that we need to improve on in terms of decision-making and execution.

“We’ve trained it (decision-making and execution) this week so hopefully there’s some growth but we’ve been up and down in that area all year.”