Adelaide went ahead through Paul Reid early in the first-half, before Victory came back into the game when Archie Thompson levelled on his return on 65 minutes.

But the Reds got the winner against the run of play when Travis Dodd headed in from a set-piece on 78 minutes.

"I thought it was a really good preparation game for us," Merrick said, ahead of their final next week which will be against fourth-placed Gold Coast United.

"Credit to Adelaide, it was a fantastic game, end-to-end stuff. The crowd created a wonderful atmosphere, that's a credit to Adelaide's support but it was great to have over 1,000 Melbourne Victory supporters.

"We started off badly, we sat back a little bit. We conceded a cheap free-kick, which was strange to see it go in the goals. Adelaide had the better part of that first 15-20 minutes, then we started to play football.

"We re-organised a couple of things at half-time and I thought we played some of our best football when we came back out.

"The goal for them was against the run of play, we had twice as many shots as they did and on another we would've buried them."

Merrick added he was pleased with the return of Thompson, while he was delighted by the performance of Marvin Angulo who continues to impress in midfield.

"He's dominating that sort of attacking, central midfield role. He's doing a great job. It's not just tonight," Merrick said about Angulo.

The Victory boss added about Thompson: "We were very happy with him. To see that combination with Danny Allsopp, Archie Thompson, Robbie Kruse and Marvin Angulo playing some fantastic football. It was a pleasure to watch.

"I came away feeling really good about that performance. I know we didn't get the points but our performance says a lot about where we at. I thought we played some great football."

And Merrick added there was another positive to come from the game for Victory.

"The benefit to us is with a nine-day turn-around because (Grant) Brebner will be back and (Billy) Celeski. Archie will be fitter and stronger. It gives me time to work on them all, so there's a lot of positives tonight," he said.

Victory defender Adrian Leijer added: "Coming into finals we're not afraid of anyone. We're pretty confident we can give this a crack. We've got belief in ourselves and we think we can have a decent run throughout the finals."