Speaking after the Mariners lost 3-2 to Brisbane Roar and 5-2 on aggregate, meaning they must play Perth Glory next Saturday in the preliminary final, Arnold looked on the bright side.

“It might sound crazy but I’m very happy that we’re not having a weekend off and that we’ll play Saturday,” he said.

“When you have a weekend off it can flatten you and it can kill your momentum … hopefully we’ll play like that [next weekend].”

And, Arnold said he was proud of the way his team applied themselves in the contest.

“We didn’t get the big decisions today,” he said. “What we can control is our football performance and it was very good. It was a great game of football, a great spectacle.

“You’ve got to give full credit to Brisbane, they’ve had a tough week and they’ve put on a great performance.

“If we got totally outplayed and we were not at the races, then there’d be concern.”

Meanwhile, Brisbane Roar coach Ange Postecoglou was full of praise for his players as they fought the game out in typical fashion right through to the final second of the match.

"I've never been prouder of a group of players than I am right now," Postecoglou said. "They've been absolutely magnificent.

"We've had a really tough week and to come here, win the game, score three goals and not even think about sitting back at any stage.

"It's easy for me to have that philosophy, but I'm not out there running around and having to do that, I just think the players were magnificent."