While United were left idle on the back of their win over the league leaders leading into Friday night's clash with the Reds at Hindmarsh, Adelaide would have appreciated the break which gave time for Paul Reid and Mathew Leckie to overcome injuries.

"We were on a high after beating Sydney and we would have played another game the day after with the way we played, so I'm not sure if the break was good for us," Bleiberg said.

"I believe Adelaide had a lot of injuries and now they have no injuries, so the break did a lot of good for them."

Bleiberg has another double edged sword to deal with as his international stars - Jason Culina and Shane Smeltz - return from victorious matches on the world stage.

The coach said that having these key players return from the top level can have one of two effects.

"They could come back in flying colours - still on a high after the weekend, but after a high you usually have a low, both mentally and physically," he said.

"Hopefully they will fly and that will give us a bigger chance to win the game, with these two on-song we are close to the best team in the league, if not we will have to live with it and hopefully the others will compensate.

"Either way, they will carry us or we will carry them."

Bleiberg's men disposed of Adelaide in Round 3 of the competition but he is under no illusions on the task that lies ahead.

The Reds may be languishing one point from the bottom of the table while Coast sit third, but Bleiberg says that gives no indication of how tough it will be to get three points.

"No one will tell you it is an easy game in Adelaide, even when we won 2-0 it was a hard fought game," he said. "There are no easy games in this league; every coach will tell you that, it is a very even competition.

"A small example - we got knocked 6-0 by Wellington, then Sydney beat Wellington 3-1, then we beat Sydney 1-0. So where is the easy game, where is the favourite, and where is the underdog in this situation?"