Adelaide United vice-captain Lucas Pantelis is confident the spray delivered by coach Aurelio Vidmar at training this week will kick the team into gear.

Vidmar produced a tirade on Tuesday after the Reds poor performance against Gold Coast United on Friday night and Pantelis hopes it will the catalyst for improved showings in the future.

"It was a positive rocket - we fully deserved it, there's no question about that," said Pantelis.

"It was right on the money. We took it on-board and had a really good session. We will move forward from here on in.

"It is a crunch game for North Queensland and us. They haven't won a game and we are 1-2. You could be looking at being 12 points behind the leader already."

Adelaide United host North Queensland Fury this Friday night at Hindmarsh Stadium - kick-off is at 7:30pm local time (8:00pm AEST).