They face Wellington Phoenix on Friday and while the Kiwis are out of the running for a finals place, second-placed Roar aren't taking the tie lightly.

“They’re in very good form and I don’t think their position on the ladder tells the true story of Perth or Wellington," said Roar coach Frank Farina.

"They haven’t had a lot of luck, but they’re definitely dangerous sides. They’ve taken points off the top teams, so we’ll be showing them the respect they deserve, irrespective of where they are on the table."

The Queensland side know they can't rely on their current strong position in second place to take them into their first finals series with such a tight finish to the A-League this year.

“We’re not in the four yet; we’re sitting second but there’s still a lot of football to be played," said Farina.

"We’ll be going into the next five games with the same attitude as we’ve had in the last 16 games.

He added: "We’re not saying we’re there; it’s so tight and can change week to week, so we’ll be going into this game with the same mentality and try to get three more points to edge us closer to the finals.

“If we lose, we blow out again so as I said we’re not certainties for the four. With five games to go, they’re all big games.”

Danny Tiatto will miss the Phoenix game with the short turnaround between matches hindering his recovery from a hamstring strain. His place in the squad will be taken by youngster Mitch Nichols with Brazilian Marcinho expected to return to the starting line-up.

Roar’s other injury concern, Matt McKay (bruised foot) will travel with the squad, but Farina will take an extra player, midfield workhorse Chris Grossman, as emergency cover as they look to heap more pressure on table-toppers, Central Coast Mariners.

Farina will welcome the two-week break between games after Friday’s fixture with a number of players carrying niggling injuries and some ruled out altogether. Ben Griffin (calf), Zoran Petrevski (heel) and Tahj Minniecon (virus) are all non-starters this week.

However, skipper Craig Moore, who celebrates his 32nd birthday today, came through another week of training without any further problems and will again lead the side on Friday night.

“Danny definitely won’t travel this week although he should be fine for Perth, but Matt McKay’s alright and everyone else is on deck aside from Tahj who’s sick at the moment, Ben Griffin and Zoran,” said Farina.

“If Danny was right he would’ve travelled, but with the short turnaround and the travel on top of it, he wasn’t worth risking.

“Matt should be right without a painkiller; there’s still two days before the game and I think he should recover no problem whatsoever. If he needs a shot we’ll give him one, but I don’t think he will with another 48 hours.”