Central Coast Mariners have their nose slightly in front of league leaders Adelaide United in their head-to-head history.

And the Mariners will be hoping to keep it that way when they play for a spot in the final four at Bluetongue Stadium on Sunday.

Mariners keeper Danny Vukovic understands it will be a tough task to take on the Reds but points out that they have had a few good results in the past.

"Everyone is very excited, we always like playing against Adelaide and do pretty good against them at home so we're hoping we can do the same again on Sunday," Vukovic said.

"They're a great side and they've done well this year, but we need to be on our game on Sunday and hopefully we can get the points and go into the finals series full of confidence.

"I think it's very important going into the finals series, it's sort of a different style of football, it's a lot more high pressure and if you're holding teams out, not letting them score goals, you're gonna be successful and we need to start keeping those clean sheets to do well in this finals series," he said.