Adelaide have won their past two matches away to Brisbane Roar and if the Reds beat the A-League leaders again this weekend, they will claim a significant mental edge ahead of the finals, which begin in April.
After a poor start to the 2013/14 season - one win in their opening nine matches - Adelaide have stormed back up the table to sit third after last week's 5-1 thrashing of Wellington Phoenix.
"Brisbane has been building that style of football for four or five years and the players they've got have been there for a very long time," Elrich said on Tuesday.
"For us it's new, it's only about eight months old with this new coach. We're getting better and better every week.
"They're first, so they are setting the benchmark at the moment, but we've had a good run and are hoping we can continue it."
Gombau's men defeated the Roar in Brisbane in January, while the Reds lost on their home turf in December.
Despite some patchy form, Mike Mulvey's Brisbane side remain top of the A-League with 41 points with Western Sydney Wanderers (34) in second and Adelaide (30) just ahead of fourth-placed Central Coast Mariners and fifth-placed Melbourne Victory on goal difference.
The A-League's Round 22 will begin with Victory hosting the Mariners with Melbourne still reeling from a week where they conceded 11 goals.
Central Coast bounced back from five straight defeats in all competition's last week, prevailing 2-1 over Sydney FC.
