Seven points shy of the top five, Hughes admits Valentine need to respond to back-to-back losses sooner rather than later in the men's competition.

Valentine went down to their upcoming opponents 2-0 on Wednesday before their scheduled clash on the weekend was washed out.

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"It's a must win now for us," Hughes, who remains sidelined with a broken arm, told the Newcastle Herald on Monday.

"I wasn't happy with the first-half performance last time we played Olympic. We were very sloppy and the players knew that and reacted in the second half.

"But we can't start a football match like that for the rest of the year if want to have a chance to move up the table."

Hughes said Dean Heffernan (ankle) has now been ruled out for the season while Nick Cowburn returned from suspension last start.

"We might have a couple of changes [on Tuesday night] due to people missing with work, but it's pretty much similar to what it would have been on the weekend," Hughes said.

The quick turnaround in re-scheduling was discussed by both clubs prior to the weekend following what has already been a heavily rain-affected campaign.

Valentine and Olympic will now go head-to-head on a synthetic pitch at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility.

"We tried to pre plan it in the event this rain came in," Hughes said.

"Olympic are lucky they have access to the facility here with their training night so it's worked out well for the both of us."

Olympic sit sixth on the ladder with 18 points.

There's a further three catch-up fixtures set for Wednesday night - Maitland v Edgeworth, Weston v Cooks Hill, Lambton v Charlestown - but all could be postponed again because of continued rainfall.

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