The Reds are the first Australian team to make it through to the last eight of Asia's premier club competition but come up against a Kashima outfit which were prolific in the group stages and currently lie second in the J. League.

Nevertheless, Dodd believes his Adelaide side can gain the upper hand at the Kashima Soccer Stadium to provide an ideal platform to clinch a last-four berth in Adelaide next week.

"They're in very good form at the moment so it's not going to be an easy game for us but we came here confident that we can do well and get a result," he said.

"We're playing in a quarter-final of the Asian Champions League and you don't really need much more motivation than that."

Coach Aurelio Vidmar also underlined that his side's success in the tournament is a reflection of how competitive the fledgling A-League has now become.

"Personally I believe the A-League has come on leaps and bounds in such a short space of time," he said.

"This competition is extremely important for Australia and I think everyone has stood up and taken notice of what we have achieved in a short period, especially qualifying for the quarter-finals of this competition."

Counterpart Oswaldo Oliveira, meanwhile, is attempting to win a domestic and continental double - something that narrowly eluded Champions League holders Urawa Reds last term.

Runaway J. League leaders at the start of the season, Kashima slid down the table once the Champions League got under way but now trail pace-setters Nagoya Grampus by three points with 10 games remaining having rediscovered their domestic form after the group stage had ended.

However, Oliveira conceded that, like Urawa, the double may be beyond them although it would not be for lack of effort.

"It's very difficult, I know that, but we are going to try," he said.

"It's very difficult to play in both the J. League and the Champions League.

"The J. League is played at a very high speed and level. All the clubs here press the opponent for 90 minutes. So the players use all the energy they have, it's impossible to save themselves for another game.

"Three or four days are not enough to recover. When we face this kind of sequence of matches, it's difficult. We have to make changes and have options.

"We cannot just have a team, we have to have to have a full squad of players. You also have to have a very good backroom staff to recover players between matches."