But McKinna's sympathy does not extend to this week's F3 derby showdown at McDonald Jones Stadium, which is must-win for Newcastle if they hope to stay in the race for the finals.

"I'll be over the moon if we beat them, and I'll be saying we should have scored more," McKinna told the Newcastle Herald.

"I feel for their fans, but when it comes to playing against them, we have to get goals and we have to win.

"I don't care if it's 6-0 or 1-0. We just need the three points.

"It's also a chance for our fans to give the Mariners fans - although there probably won't be many of them travel down - a bit of stick.

"It's well documented that they don't like each other, and now it looks like the Mariners are going to get another wooden spoon, so no doubt our fans will enjoy that."

Saturday's embarrassing scoreline, which matched Newcastle's 8-2 win against the Mariners in the final round of last season, cost embattled coach Mike Mulvey his job. 

Mulvey won only one of his 21 games and Central Coast now appear certain to finish last for the third time in four seasons. They have conceded a league-high 56 goals and, with six games remaining, are on track to surpass their own competition record [70] for most goals against in a season.

McKinna, however, said Newcastle could not afford to underestimate the Mariners, whom they have now beaten in five consecutive derbies.

"They'll have a caretaker coach this week, and we can't take anything for granted," McKinna said. "You bring in a new coach, and put them up against their derby opponents, and they'll be a different team this week. We can't take this game lightly, at all. It's too important."

Wellington's win left the Jets four points behind sixth-placed Melbourne City (30 points), and five behind Adelaide and the Phoenix (both 31). After the Mariners on Saturday, the Jets head to Wellington for what shapes as a make-or-break game for both teams.

"We have to focus on getting a win at home on Saturday, and then going to Wellington and beating them, which we're very capable of," McKinna said.

"You don't go to Geelong and get a win against Melbourne Victory, the reigning champions, if you're not a decent side.

"We've still got to play the Mariners, Brisbane and Wanderers, who are all below us. We're lucky that we still have to play Phoenix, who are just above us.

"We've also got two tough games against Perth and Sydney, but if we can get something out of those two games, and maybe win the other four, who knows where we can finish?"

McKinna, who coached the Mariners in the A-League's first five seasons and also served the club as football-operations manager, empathised with their long-suffering supporters.

"I was there last night and I talked to a lot of the fans, and it was sad," McKinna said.

"I feel sorry for the fans. A lot of those people have been supporting the club since the first season, when I was the coach there. The club had a lot of success in those first eight years, and there are some great memories."

He had no doubt the Mariners could re-establish credibility, despite the odds stacked against them financially.

"I think they just need to appoint the right coach, get behind him, and get the playing group sorted out, and be competitive," he said.

"The first eight years, we were in four grand finals, won one, won two minor premierships and a pre-season cup.

"They've shown they can be successful, and in a lot of games this year, they've actually competed quite well."