United's heavily congested schedule and a seemingly endless injury list combined to slow Miron Bleiberg's men ahead of the finals, with losses to Central Coast Mariners and Premiers Brisbane Roar that gave them the worst possible preparation for the business end of the season.

But after some much-needed rest ahead of last week's knockout semi-final, United's troops were refreshed and came home with a wet sail in the thrilling last-gasp win over Melbourne Victory.

The result heralded an emphatic and passionate return to form with the defender describing the triumph as a mental clean sheet.

"Going into the Melbourne game we were having a bad run, but we gained confidence from that and the additional rest periods we've been afforded have helped us," he said.

"We took a lot out of that and now we can look to Adelaide with a clean focus knowing that the little run of bad results we had are now well in the past.

"We were always full of belief but after those couple of losses, it does mentally challenge you a little bit.

"That result against Melbourne lifted us and we know that if we win this one we're just one more game away from a Grand Final and a spot in Asia, which would be an amazing achievement for such a young club."

Standing in the way of United's lofty dreams is one of the most lethal strike-forces in the Hyundai A-League.

Adelaide marksman Sergio van Dijk leads the competition's goalscoring charts, supported by the creative genius of Argentine Marcos Flores and pacy wingers Travis Dodd, Iain Ramsay, Mathew Leckie and Andwele Slory.

But Rees believes Gold Coast's watertight rearguard has served the club well all season, providing the foundation for their finals charge and is confident the likes of Dino Djulbic, Michael Thwaite and himself can nullify any threats posed by the Reds.

"In their attacking third, they're deadly. Van Dijk scores a goal every two games and you've got Flores with his creativity just in behind him," Rees said.

"They are two players who can change the game and then you've got the width of Dodd and Ramsay pushing on. There's so much danger there so it's going to be tough.

"But our defence has been one of the best in the league in terms of goals conceded and clean sheets so we should be confident and positive going into these games. We can do well against these sorts of players."

Rees also laughed at recent rumours suggesting the Gold Coast dressing room was distracted by the fact that a handful of players were leaving the club at season's end.

The big defender said the players on their way out of the club were leaving with a heavy heart after two years of laying the foundations for the future of Gold Coast United.

"It's a load of rubbish; nonsense. There's no backroom tension that I've noticed and we're all focused on going to Adelaide and getting the result there," Rees said.

"The only tension is when we're out on the pitch and working hard and that's a good sort of tension because it pushes and motivates you.

"This is a good group of boys and we've all enjoyed our time together and it's shown because we've done well in our first two years.

"I was speaking to Bas van den Brink the other night and he's really sad to be leaving but it's a decision he's made for his career and he's got to stand by it, but I know he's really enjoyed his time here."