Jason Culina and Michael Thwaite expect new signing Miller to settle quickly at Gold Coast United after the former Brisbane Roar playmaker made his debut for his new club last Sunday.

Miller engineered United's first goal against Newcastle when his inch-perfect through ball for Shane Smeltz resulted in the league's leading marksman being felled in the penalty area, before firing home the resulting spot-kick to level the scores at 1-1.

Gold Coast skipper Culina said the pair quickly developed an awareness of each other and expects the partnership to grow swiftly over the coming weeks.

"That was the first time I have been on the field with him and I think we established a good understanding straight away," said the Socceroo midfielder.

"Charlie is a lovely guy and a very good player; he showed on Sunday what great touch he has. He's very smart, understands the game so well and I'm really happy that he's here with us."

Vice-captain Michael Thwaite was equally full of praise for his new team-mate, adding that the best was yet to come from the wily Scot in Gold Coast's string of four consecutive home matches, starting this Sunday against Perth Glory.

"We're still adjusting to how Charlie plays as we've only had a week of training with him. We will all get to know each other over the coming weeks and there is no doubt he will be a huge asset for us," he said.

"He gets into great positions and can be very dangerous in the role he plays. I'm sure we will see the best of him during our run of home games over the Christmas period.

"These next four home games will be vital for us and we hope the fans will come out during their holidays and get behind us.

"The game against Brisbane Roar on Boxing Day is a big one obviously, but this Sunday's match versus Perth is just as important in terms of our goals for the season."

Despite slipping further behind leaders Melbourne Victory by virtue of the weekend's results, Culina believes a little fine-tuning is all that is required to get United back on course.

The Gold Coast captain says the unpredictable nature of the A-League, coupled with his side's run of home games until mid-January, gives United a great chance to keep the pressure on leaders Melbourne and second-placed Sydney FC.

"We've chased the game in our last two fixtures and that makes it difficult for us," he said. "Conceding an early goal didn't help of course and there is no doubt that it would have been good for us to get something from the Newcastle game.

"If we can cut out the little errors that are costing us then we are always a good chance of winning because we have goalscorers in the team.

"But we have four home games in a row now, starting this week against Perth Glory, then the big one against Brisbane on Boxing Day.

"We're still confident we can do very well and there will be a few twists and turns in the season yet. We've been in the top three for a long time now and we are naturally aiming higher.

"Stringing a few results together is vital and we have to take advantage of these home games - it's a very important period of the season that we're heading into now."