Heart Goes On Regardless

With just five points separating third and sixth, competition points will be gold for all teams still in finals contention.

It's still unclear if Gold Coast will actually finish the season, potentially gifting wins by forfeit to Wellington, Newcastle, Perth and Brisbane.

But van 't Schip believes if the game do go ahead, Gold Coast's players will be fired up to match the recent displays that earned draws against Melbourne Victory and league leaders Central Coast Mariners.

"You can be concerned, but it doesn't matter because we have to just do our own things and then it's up to the Gold Coast," van 't Schip said following training at La Trobe University.

"And I think they're doing very well because everybody already thought they would maybe give away the games but I think the team and the young players, but also the experienced players, are showing that they have good character.

"They already had some good results, they made it very difficult to us (in their 1-0 loss to the Heart on February 17), they played a good game against Victory, they played a good game against Central Coast.

"The situation for them, of course, is changed because they know that something's going to change with the owner and the club but still they are fighting for maybe getting to another club next season."

Heart continue their assault on a debut finals appearance on Friday against second-placed Roar at Suncorp Stadium.

After two wins in a row and with a near full-strength squad to choose from, van 't Schip believes his team has well and truly come out the other side of a horror period which saw them collect just three points from eight matches and hit hard by unavailability to key personnel.

"We feel that we're getting every player back, Fred is of course still a case that we have to manage very carefully, but all the other players (are in good shape)," van 't Schip said.

"Even Kristian Sarkies is now back this week training, Jason Hoffman was sick so he's back, so everybody actually is fit."

Van't Schip said Heart would take confidence from their win and a draw in the two previous encounters with Brisbane this season but would have to pay close attention to red-hot striker Besart Berisha if they wanted to keep their undefeated run against Roar intact.

"He's always there in the box, he's a real striker and he works very hard for the team as well," van 't Schip said.

"He can have the patience to wait until the last second of the game to be on the right spot, makes always good runs, so we have to be prepared on sharp marking and knowing that he will always try to sneak away in your back and be there where they give the ball."

The Heart boss confirmed one change for the clash against Roar with midfielder Paul Reid to come out of the side after his short-term contract expired.