Ange wants fairytale finish

All the planets are aligning perfectly for the A-League's runaway leader with Roar to be awarded the Premiers' Plate on the first night back at its flood-ravaged home ground.

A maiden local derby triumph will put the icing on the cake for Postecoglou's men, who are determined to keep their 24-match unbeaten streak running into the play-offs.

A crowd of near 20,000 is expected at Suncorp Stadium and Roar is also relishing the prospect of playing on its smooth surface again after being hamstrung by three games on the patchy Skilled Park.

Brisbane still managed to win all three of its last three matches at the Gold Coast but Postecoglou and midfielder Erik Paartalu both admitted on Friday its crisp, exciting passing game suffered on the bumpy surface.

Despite dominating the competition since its sole loss to Melbourne Victory in week six, Postecoglou has continued to claim there was plenty of improvement left in his players, and he now believes they're ready to lift.

"The whole idea for us was for everything to come together at the end of the year," he said.

"We've had a bit of a hiccup, we've played two extra away games but being back at Suncorp now and with (skipper) Matt McKay and Henrique back, I really think we've got an opportunity now to take it up a gear and play our best football in these last four or five games.

"That's certainly the plan and I think it's in us and the players have been waiting for this opportunity to take it up another level."

The match means nothing as far as ladder positions with Adelaide United sealing third place by beating Victory on Friday night, leaving United entrenched in fourth.

A 3-1 loss to Central Coast Mariners on Wednesday has deflated United coach Miron Bleiberg and left him considering resting some of his battered leading men.

"We are disappointed and we now have to fight very, very hard, and it's almost an impossible task to make it to the grand final," he said.

"But I believe in the boys and we believe in each other and hopefully we can overcome all the obstacles and do it."

Bleiberg also believes derbies have their own rules and those rules favour United, talk that was music to the ears of Roar.

"We're expecting a tough one, and we want a tough one, to be honest," Postecoglou said.

"We need a tough game going into the finals, we need to be tested.

"(A win) would be the fairytale ending, but I've been around long enough to know that sometimes fairytales aren't the reality of sports, so we've got to make sure we do our job."

Roar striker Henrique will start his first game since breaking his arm in September after James Meyer was cruelly sidelined for the rest of the season with a toe injury.