As the A-League returns to action this weekend Gold Coast United are hoping the week off will not disrupt their momentum.

Miron Bleiberg's side defeated league leaders Sydney FC a fortnight ago to move to within two points of the pace-setters, and travel to Adelaide United on Friday night.

The rest has given Adelaide time to allow Paul Reid and Mathew Leckie to recover from their injuries.

Adelaide sit just one point above the bottom of the table after an indifferent start to the season but Bleiberg remains wary of the Reds.

"We were on a high after beating Sydney and we would have played another game the day after with the way we played, so I'm not sure if the break was good for us," he said.

Shane Smeltz returns to the Gold Coast side on a high after helping New Zealand reach next year's World Cup finals with an aggregate win over Bahrain.

Bleiberg is hoping the result will bring his top scorer back to domestic football brimming with confidence.

"(He) could come back in flying colours - still on a high after the weekend, but after a high you usually have a low, both mentally and physically," he added.

Another team with designs on claiming top spot in the standings is Melbourne Victory, who head to the Suncorp Stadium on Saturday to tackle Brisbane Roar.

Nick Ward could be in contention for a place in the squad after he played in two youth team games as part of his recovery process from a nasty bacterial infection that has kept him sidelined since September.

Roar, meanwhile, have Scottish ace Charlie Miller, Henrique and Michael Zullo all available for selection after shaking off their respective injuries.

Elsewhere, North Queensland Fury entertain the Central Coast Mariners hoping to secure the three points that could lift them off the bottom of the table.

Despite boasting the lethal finishing of Robbie Fowler in their line-up, the Fury have struggled this season but the former Liverpool and England striker is confident his side will start climbing the table.

"We're at the bottom but to be fair we're in a no-lose situation each week," said Fowler.

"There's no external pressure on us really because all the critics are expecting us to lose, but we're still picking up points here and there and that's proved a lot of people wrong."

League leaders Sydney are in action on Sunday when they tackle Perth Glory at Members Equity Stadium.

Steve Corica has been ruled out for Sydney after failing to recover from a hamstring injury and the absence of the 36-year-old will no doubt be a blow for Vitezslav Lavicka's side.

"Steve Corica's hammy looks much better than last week and the week before but still it's not 100% ready to play in Perth this week," said Lavicka.

Finally, Wellington Phoenix welcome back six of New Zealand's World Cup heroes as they head to the Newcastle Jets.

Mark Paston - who denied a Bahrain penalty on Saturday - Tim Brown, Leo Bertos, Tony Lockhead, David Mulligan and Ben Sigmund are all back for the Phoenix.

But Brown insists the players will not be letting that success get to their heads on Sunday.

"The worst thing we could do is go to Newcastle and think we're more special than we are because we could be embarrassed," he said.