The Mariners trail 2-0 and face an uphill battle to make the preliminary final.

Hutchinson believes snarls rather than smiles are the order of the day in the build up and makes no apologies for the approach.

He said: "In training we need to, in a nice way, kick each other and put a bit of pressure on each other's positions and start expecting better from everyone.

"Start pointing the finger from player to player and say 'you're not doing your job well enough' or 'well done'. Whatever it takes to get it going.

"We used to hunt in packs. There'll be two, three or four people kicking one person normally and that's what we've got to get back to."

Meanwhile, three of the Central Coast Mariners' standouts from the club's inaugural National Youth League (NYL) campaign have been rewarded for their efforts with a call up to the Mariners' AFC Champions League squad - Matthew Lewis, Nathan Sherlock and Brady Smith each confirmed to be among those that will fly the Central Coast flag in Asia from March onwards.