JASON Taylor has shown unnerving faith in his under-achieving side - until now - with the South Sydney coach giving his side the mother of all blasts at training. Full details / The Daily Telegraph

But this week it was clear Taylor had had a gutful and he let his players know it in no uncertain terms.

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Souths players were this week told to lift their form, start winning matches, or face being dumped to the modest NSW Cup.

"JT really got stuck into us this week. He showed us some tapes and it wasn't good," five-eighth John Sutton said.

"He said if we don't start performing then he would make changes. Everyone has to be on their toes. It's time for us to step up."

After five successive losses to bomb out of finals contention, Souths are under huge pressure to win tonight's match against Penrith at Homebush. If they don't win, they will face another week of intense scrutiny.

An embarrassing 54-20 loss to Wests Tigers last weekend only heaped more pressure on Taylor's position.

"We started the season all right but we just haven't been performing," Sutton said.

"The fans are frustrated and that is understandable. They pay good money to watch us. We've been disappointing over the past month. I can't put our form down to any one thing.

"We just aren't doing the little things right. We need more talk on the field. We have to turn it around and have a big end to the season."

Surprisingly, TAB Sportsbet has Souths $1.50 favourites tonight, with Penrith $2.50 outsiders. Taylor was unavailable for comment yesterday despite being at training.

However, skipper Roy Asotasi said: "We've got nine weeks to impress. I think we've got to go out and start picking up our game now.

"There's no excuses and there's no room for error. This is the business end of the competition and we really need to pick up our game.

"We've got this game against the Panthers on Friday night to really prove to our members and to JT that we're really serious and really want this game."

Panthers coach Matt Elliott said he was expecting to face a desperate Rabbitohs side after their recent problems, culminating in the embarrassment of last week's loss.

"They're going to respond, we understand that. Last week's performance (by Souths) was disappointing," Elliott said.

"There is stuff going on at their club. I have been in that spot myself and it's not a nice place to be.

"They will try to come out and make amends. But we have had our own issues this week and we've had to make some adjustments to the team. I know it's an old cliche, but we haven't spent too much time worrying about Souths just yet."

Sutton was critical of his own form after being replaced after an hour of last Saturday's loss to the Tigers.

"I haven't been happy at all. I haven't been leading the side around like I should. I need a big game," Sutton said.