Josh Kelly says the GIANTS are in finals mode a fortnight early, with back-to-back wins likely needed to earn their way inside the top eight.

Riding consecutive losses, the GIANTS battle fellow top-eight contenders Essendon on Saturday and red-hot Carlton a week later as they bid to cap an impressive debut season under first-year coach Adam Kingsley with a finals appearance.

Kelly admitted they were found wanting against Port Adelaide in a 51-point thumping last weekend, but hoped the loss could act as a timely reminder of the level they need to get to if they want to compete in September.

He demanded his side lift its pressure against the Bombers, suggesting it was sorely lacking in the Power loss.

"Definitely a disappointing performance, there were a lot of areas of our gameplan, the way we want to play, that we didn't execute," he said.

"Everyone's still excited about what's ahead, so we've got to generate that momentum and turn things around from our performance on the weekend and get going again.

"Our pressure probably wasn't at the level we've really prided ourselves on for the year.

"We want to base our game off that, bring good heat, bring good pressure at the source around the grounds, and we didn't execute that."

The GIANTS will regain Toby Bedford and Brent Daniels from suspension, but the presence of the two pressure forwards doesn't excuse others from lifting their own standards in that area, Kelly said.

The log-jammed ladder means not even two wins guarantee the GIANTS a finals berth, but they'd certainly miss if they drop another game on the run in.

"We're really aware of that, we turned our attention to this week pretty quickly," Kelly said.

"It's an elimination final for us, we think our best footy is capable but we've just got to bring that.

"If we don't play up to the level then you're going to get found out and we did on the weekend.

"So it's a good little reminder and it's good we've got two games left, two games we need to win to be in the hunt."