Queensland Roar coach Frank Farina knows there is a lot at stake in Saturday night's preliminary final against Adelaide United. If the Roar win they go into the Grand Final for a shot at the A-League title that has thus far eluded them and it also qualifies them for next season's Asian Champions League.

"This is the grand final because the winner of this game qualifies for Asia irrespective of what happens in the Grand Final as such. So this, for both us and Adelaide, is a massive game," Farina said.

Farina believes that his side is in a better position to progress this year after taking on too much with such a young group last season.

"We've got a lot of different players scoring goals whereas last year it was sprinkled around three or four," he said.

"So that's been the big difference and that's where we're better off than we were, say, 12 months ago."