WAITAKERE United chairman Rex Dawkins has warned Adelaide United against taking the part-time Oceania champions for granted should the two teams meet to decide the final berth in December's lucrative FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.

Adelaide's stunning run to the final of the Asian Champions League has led to wholesale assumptions the Reds are already guaranteed a place in the CWC, and with it the dream of playing against the world's richest club, European champions Manchester United. But those claims ignore the fine print - if Adelaide end up losing to Gamba Osaka in next month's ACL final, they will then need to beat the Aucklanders in a one-off decider in Tokyo on December 11 to snare the final berth in the CWC. And Dawkins has promised a scrap.

"On paper, we may be amateurs, but we set professional standards," he said. "We're leaving no stone unturned. We are spending more than $100,000 on our preparations, and the squad has been training for this since August. All our planning is based on us staying on in Japan and playing in the world championship. In fact, our preference is to play Adelaide rather than Gamba - we know a lot more about them, and it will eliminate the home-crowd factor. If Adelaide take us lightly, they'll be in for a huge surprise. So be warned."

Waitakere also won last year's Oceania title and made it to the final hurdle for the CWC, but, according to Dawkins, the team got "stage fright" as it was thumped by Iranian side Sepahan.

"We've definitely learned from our mistakes. Last year there was too much emphasis on the other team, and our players didn't get going until it was too late," Dawkins said. "This time we're going to prepare a lot better, and make sure we're ready."

Waitakere start those preparations with an O-League game against rivals Auckland City next weekend, and will play two New Zealand Football Championship fixtures, another O-League match against Vanuatu champions Port Vila Sharks, a friendly against A-League side Wellington Phoenix in mid-November, and a final warm-up match against a Chinese select side in Ningbo before arriving in Japan.

Coach Chris Milicich has beefed up his squad for the tilt at the CWC, with 25-year-old Brazilian midfielder Adriano Pimenta - who has had two spells in the J-League and played with former Socceroos defender Ljubo Milicevic during a stint at Swiss side FC Thun - his prized recruit. Waitakere also have former All Whites skipper Danny Hay, former New Zealand Knights defender Neil Emblen, Fijian star Roy Krishna and Solomon Islands international Benjamin Totori, on their books.

■ Perth Glory coach Dave Mitchell is still miffed about the ban handed to defender Dino Djulbic, who could return to A-League action this weekend.

Although cleared of spitting towards referee Peter Green in the Glory's 5-2 loss to Sydney in round three, Djulbic was hit with a five-game ban by the match review panel for unsporting conduct towards a match official. "The thing about Dino is he's ultra-competitive and I think he was really harshly dealt by and I think our club was harshly dealt by," Mitchell told AAP.