Having fallen out of the top six following a remarkable turn of results last week, Sydney FC coach Frank Farina accepts his side can’t afford any more stumbles if it is to make the finals.

The Sky Blues were fifth heading into the last round but a 3-1 defeat to Adelaide, followed by Newcastle’s 5-0 thumping of Wellington, enabled the Reds and Jets to sneak ahead, the latter wiping out a minus-six goal difference in 24 hours to leapfrog Sydney.

The Jets head to Perth on Sunday to face the bottom-placed Glory and will be expected to claim another three points, leaving the Sky Blues with little choice but to gain something against Melbourne Victory at AAMI Park the day before.

“Ideally, we’ll win the three games,” Farina said during training at Macquarie University on Thursday. "That’s our goal, to get nine points from the last three games, but this one away to Victory is a tough test for sure. They bounced back quite well in the Asian Champions League [stunning Yokohama F. Marinos 1-0] and obviously in the league, so I think they’re going into the game with a lot of form.”