The Reds are propping up the ladder ahead of their Hindmarsh date with Branko Culina's men. Defeat for the home side would open up a five-point gap between the teams and making a finals finish the toughest of challenges.

Defender Mark Rudan issued a 'grow up' message to his teammates today through the Adelaide press.

Sarkies has not seen those comments but is happy to admit that it's time to stand up and be counted.

"We really, really need the win here. It is a must-win game," he told au.fourfourtwo.com today. "It's very frustrating to be where we are and we want to change that situation quickly.

"We don't think our football has been that bad but we have to start scoring goals and getting results. If we beat Newcastle 1-0 with a scrappy goal and it gets us three points, we'll take it."

The Melbourne Heart-bound midfielder said no-one in the camp was pointing figures over the position the team finds itself in.

"It's about everyone standing up," he said. "It's easy to point the finger at the strikers but it's about the team. If we get set pieces, we have to try and make them count.

"There's three of us (Sarkies, Scott Jamieson and Cassio) putting our hands up in that situation."

Sarkies accepts their visitors won't make it easy for the Reds.

He added: "They  had a very good result against Sydney last week and played well. We'll really need to be on our toes.

"We want to do this for ourselves but we want to do this for the fans. I think our average is right up there and the supporters have kept coming through rain, hail, shine, the lot.

"We have to do it for them."