A knee injury has ruled Vidosic out of the top-of-the-table clash at Bluetongue Stadium, and Barbiero, 28, said he would be delighted to shoulder Vidosic's more attacking role if coach John Kosmina calls on him.

"Dario's been outstanding this season so far, he's just been unlucky with a little injury that he's got," Barbiero said on Wednesday.

"In terms of changing the position, I'm not sure what Kozzy's got in mind but we've got a lot of boys here that can step up, and we've got a lot of depth, and it shows in our squad. Hopefully, one of us gets our chance and we take it.

"If given the chance, I'll do my best. Dario's a great player, and that's why he's proven that this season, and throughout his career. I'll just have to step up, I've played a lot of games - hopefully I can slot in and do the job for the team."

Attacking the Mariners defence will be Adelaide's toughest assignment in Gosford on Saturday, according to Barbiero.

"They're quite strong defensively. They're well drilled... it's going to be a tough game, it's going to be a real test," he said.

"We had one against Brisbane, I think Brisbane's still the benchmark of the A-League, but the Mariners are going to be hard up there. It's always hard playing up at Gosford."

Barbiero said Kosmina put his chargers through a training session in the heat, to prepare them for the predicted 36 degrees on the Central Coast on Saturday.

"It was quite warm today, the boys certainly felt it, we haven't had a hot day like that for a while," he said. "But Kozzy put on a bit of an extra session for us at the end, to get us mentally stronger.

"It's going to be hot there, and it's going to be hot for both teams. So we're used to the conditions, especially being here in Adelaide, so I guess we've just got to turn up and be on our game."