After missing out on the A-League based Australia side that kicked off the Asian Cup qualifying campaign, Dodd has extra motivation to perform in the finals as he looks to get back under the radar of national coach Pim Verbeek.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed about not making the squad so it's an opportunity now to focus with Adelaide United and play well and hopefully put myself back in the spotlight for national selection," he said today.

As Adelaide United FC continue to prepare ahead of the 1st leg semi final against Melbourne Victory at Hindmarsh Stadium on February 7, Dodd says the squad is ready to prove wrong any critics who do not regard the Reds as frontrunners for the championship.

After training this morning, Dodd denied Melbourne and Queensland Roar were favourites for the title, and that Adelaide's heavy match and travel schedule would eventually take its toll at the crunch time of the season.

"That's fine...I guess it's better for us if they don't rate us in the finals," Dodd said. "We know we're good enough to be there and do well.

"People said we wouldn't win against Central Coast in the last game of the season and we went there and did a job. I guess the same has been said about Melbourne, we haven't beaten them for awhile so we can get one over them in the first final."

Dodd said the players are confident they can get over Melbourne in the two legged Major Semi Final even though Victory have won their past three meetings.

While Melbourne boast talent across the park, Dodd believes a key to beating Victory will be the Reds' ability to shut down the influence of dangerous strike pair Archie Thompson and Danny Allsopp, who have combined for 19 goals this season.

"I think we've played some good football against them, especially here in Adelaide...and we're confident we can do a job and definitely beat them," Dodd said.

"We have been able to close them (Thompson and Allsopp) down before, we just have to look back at what we did right in those games and do it again."

With the first leg being played at Hindmarsh Stadium, the Reds captain said there were benefits in playing the opening match at home, and that the squad felt confident of recording its ninth A-League home win this season.

"I think we can go out there and get a good home result. We're definitely going to have the support from the Adelaide public. They've been great all year and I'm sure this final is going to be no different," Dodd said.

"Hopefully we can play well on the day, get a couple of goals and then go to the Telstra Dome and finish the leg off."

"There is going to be a lot of the squad breaking up this year so it would be fantastic to see this squad do well and go out with a championship."