James Hudson has slammed Newcastle © Getty Images

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Teams: England | Newcastle Falcons | Sale Sharks

Newcastle skipper James Hudson has fired both barrels at his team-mates following their Aviva Premiership capitulation against Wasps last weekend.

The Falcons were beaten 33-16 at Adams Park after shipping two late tries and Hudson has demanded that they tighten up prior to a vital showdown with Sale at Kingston Park on Friday night.

Victory over the Sharks would reopen a seven-point gap between Newcastle and bottom club Leeds Carnegie, who registered their first domestic win of the season last weekend by scraping past inconsistent Gloucester.

"It was a terrible effort from us - we went to sleep towards the end of the game," Hudson said. "It was frustrating as we worked really hard to get into a good position to get something out of the game.

"I've watched it back, and it is one of those games where you want to burn the tape and never see it again. Quite simply, people weren't doing their jobs, and there are no excuses for it. To lose our concentration like we did is unacceptable."

Sale will head into the game with renewed confidence after a thrilling win over play-off hopefuls Saracens. That result allowed the Sharks to open up an eight-point lead over Hudson's men, but he is refusing to dwell on last weekend's upsets.

"I think this was always going to be a crucial match for us whatever the outcome of the results at the weekend," he said. "We would still be in the position we are in now, and we were kidding ourselves if we thought Leeds and Sale were both going to lose anyway.

"They were both at home and they got the results that they needed. For 70 minutes we deserved to get something out of the game, but the last 10 minutes we didn't deserve anything out of it. Destiny is definitely in our own hands. If we win the game we get the four points to move clear of Leeds and close the gap on Sale.

"You can easily make up ground in this league, especially when you play teams around you. The whole complexion of the table can change after just one result."