Hawthorn Coach Alastair Clarkson says his side will need to produce a consistent four-quarter performance if they are to have any chance of knocking over the in-form Sydney line up come Friday night.

"We've got a lot of work to do," Clarkson said during his pre-match press conference at Melbourne Airport.

"We've got a lot of new guys in our side at the moment who are finding their way, and that's a really good thing for the future of our footy club, but it just means that we've been inconsistent in patches.

"We know full well that if we are too inconsistent in large patches in Sydney, they will really hurt us. They'll punish any side in that regard."

"We've just got to try and play it contest by contest, quarter by quarter, and if we do that pretty well then we'll give ourselves a good chance [to win] the game."

See Clarkson's full pre-match presser above.

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