The Reds slumped to their third consecutive loss, and fourth in five games, in the Boxing Day defeat to the third-placed Mariners who closed the gap on second-placed Adelaide to one point.

And Adelaide now face an important period of matches against struggling Sydney FC on Wednesday, before difficult challenges against Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar.

"They're must-wins," Hughes told FoxSports after the game. "We got ourselves into a place earlier in the season which was good, dropped off a little bit now, but we've got to pick that up again now and make sure we come back into a little bit of form towards the end of the season.

"We won't be able to pick up the three points unless we pick up our game and work a little harder."

He added: "We just didn't perform today. It's one of those ones where you come here and have to perform and we didn't do that so we didn't pick up any points."