Dodd has missed the past two games with a calf injury, but the club's highest ever goal scorer has made a full recovery and is back to lead Adelaide United in what would be a crucial three points for last season's A-League grand finalists.

The midfielder says his body is capable of playing the full 90 minutes, and he will do everything in his power to help The Reds to a positive result.

"I'm certainly looking forward to it. It has been a tough couple of weeks for me. I thought in myself I would have been good to go last week against Wellington, but I spoke to Viddie (Aurelio Vidmar) and the medical staff and they thought it was best for me to have another week of recovery, so I'm certainly itching to get out there," Dodd said. "I definitely want to play 90 minutes and hopefully I can get through it. I want Viddie to leave me out there for as long as I can be out there. No player wants to come off so I'm happy to work for 90 minutes and get the win."

With just one victory from the first five games heading into two big consecutive Friday night home fixtures, Dodd and the Reds know positive results over the Mariners and then Melbourne Victory are imperative, to ensure their season does not slowly slip away.

"We're creating opportunities but we're just not putting them away but it's something we've worked on this week and we're confident we can rectify it and start putting some goals away," Dodd said.

"On the flip side we need to be strong defensively...we can't keep conceding soft goals and we need to be solid everywhere.

"We're desperate for a win and things will change and hopefully that stars tomorrow with a win."

Cassio is another, along with Dodd, who is expected to be recalled after also missing the past two games with a calf strain.

Striker Lloyd Owusu's progress has been closely monitored throughout the week as he recovers from neck soreness, after an accidental collision during the game in Wellington, coach Vidmar set to give the powerful target man every chance to prove his fitness to tackle the Mariners.

 "We're going to give him until the very last minute. At the moment, he's probably 80-20 to play, but once again, he needs to feel comfortable with it," Vidmar said on Owusu's chance of facing the Central Coast.

Vidmar is well aware of the Central Coast being a team renowned for their 'never say die' attitude, and he needn't be reminded about last season's encounter at Hindmarsh when The Reds let a three goal lead slip and the Mariners came back to salvage a point. Vidmar will be hoping there will be no repeat this time around.

Vidmar added: "The whole package needs to improve, there's no doubt about that. Certainly last week I think we took some massive steps forward and now we really need to get into the face of Central Coast because they're a competitive side, probably one of the best in the league in terms of never giving up, so that's what we need to expect tomorrow.

 "We just need everyone contributing and if we get that we've got no problems. Everyone is aware of where we're sitting, no one is happy with it and we certainly want to be higher up on the table, so a couple of good wins on the trot and you can bounce back into a good position."