Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew concedes fierce criticism around the Suns is warranted after two consecutive disastrous AFL performances.

The Suns have come under fire following their 108-point loss – their sixth defeat in a row – to fellow expansion club Greater Western Sydney last Saturday.

That followed a miserable comeback game at their Metricon Stadium base a week earlier when Geelong thumped them by 85 points.

Gold Coast chairman Tony Cochrane hit back at critics on Tuesday, believing the club needed more assistance from the AFL to be competitive.

Despite their struggles to sit 15th on the ladder, Dew says his team is in “good spirits” and believes his players can bounce back against St Kilda this Saturday.

“There has been (harsh criticism) but that’s warranted when you have a performance like (against GWS),” Dew told reporters on Wednesday.

“I think we’ve really let ourselves down on the back of poor contest and work-rate, so we’ll look for a big improvement in that area.”

Dew says the resilience of his side needed to improve after scoring a total of just two points in their last three final quarters, but he doesn’t believe fitness is to blame.

“The game is done at three-quarter-time and the whole team knows that,” Dew said.

“The disappointing part was we set ourselves to try and win that last quarter to salvage something from the game, and we didn’t and that’s why it blows out.”

After a dominant performance in the NEAFL, midfielder Jarryd Lyons is “definitely in the mix” for a recall.

“I thought he (Lyons) started the season strongly but then his three games before we put him back in the NEAFL I thought his work-rate dipped,” Dew said.