“Sydney's dangerous. For me their side on paper, they've got five or six in their starting side that are in the best 20 players in the league,” Milicic told au.fourfourtwo.com ahead of the two teams' clash at Suncorp on Saturday night.

Milicic, a Sydneysider, knows coach Branko Culina well having played in his Sydney United grand final side of a decade ago. And he's wary of a Sydney side that has yet to win a game.

“I just think they've got too many good players to be in this position for long," he said. "And I just hope they don't awake on Saturday night.

"Culina needs to get a result. He's still got the players from the Asian Champions League who performed well.”

Queensland took their first three points of the season last round while Sydney suffered its second defeat of the year. A win for Roar would cement them in the top four in what is a tight league.

“Culina may think we're vulnerable after our long trip to Perth last week and we've not got a crash hot home record,” added former Socceroo Milicic, 33.

“It's no use making that journey and putting in the effort that we did if we don't back it up with a win against Sydney. We need another really good showing.”

And the much anticipated return to Suncorp of Tony Popovic – the brother in law of Milicic – is a no-show after a calf injury ruled out the Sydney captain for Saturday night's game. Robbie Middleby has also been ruled out with a similar injury.

Midfield enforcer Terry McFlynn has been promoted as has Adam Biddle.

For Roar, Massimo Murdocca is back from a thigh injury and is available for selection. The game will be Frank Farina's 100th in charge in senior club football.

Farina said today: “There’s going to be a lot of players at Sydney who want to prove themselves and prove a point, so it doesn’t matter who they field, it’ll be a difficult game there’s no doubt about that.

“We’re going into the game showing them the respect they deserve and we’ve just got to focus on ourselves.

"I keep saying that to the players; that it’s about us and we’ve got to do things well. If we do that and everyone gives 100%, we have every chance of coming away with the points.”

Roar skipper Craig Moore said Sydney would still present a significant threat even without marquee signing Juninho, and pointed to Steve Corica as the main threat to Queensland’s aspirations.

Corica has traditionally lifted against the Roar in recent years and will be key once again, Moore says.

“He’s a fantastic player and spent many years with the national team and played in Europe so he obviously knows what it’s all about," he said.

"He’s a key player for them and I think if you can keep him quiet then it’s a big part of getting the result against Sydney.

“We’ll keep a close eye on him for sure but we don’t have any special plans to mark him. We’ll play our own game, which we have done throughout the first four rounds and I feel as if we’ve been playing a nice brand of football.”