As word of mouth spread about the passionate atmosphere and adventurous, committed quality of the football, each game drew a bigger crowd than the one before, with more than 32,000 attending that final match - more than 3½ times the average A-League attendance last season. The teams will again meet this Saturday at Etihad Stadium with neither having hit their stride this season and sitting winless in the bottom three. The Victory, which boasts a formidable array of attacking talent, is yet to score a goal and sits eighth with a draw and loss while Heart has scored three goals but has conceded sloppy and costly goals in the opening rounds. This weekend's derby will therefore have the added edge of both teams eager to get their seasons running. While the last game between the teams closed with the unsavoury sight of Victory's captain Kevin Muscat being sent off after a sickening tackle on Heart's Adrian Zahra, Heart coach John van 't Schip says he can't wait for battle to reconvene. ''This time last year there was nothing we could say about the derbies, nobody knew what they would be like. That special derby atmosphere with the fans was something the FFA wanted to create and we got not only the good atmosphere but very good games as well.''

Van 't Schip played in his fair share of derby games in his time at Ajax during the 1980s as the Amsterdam team went up against Feyenoord, its rival from down the road in Rotterdam. Part of the legendary Dutch squad that won the 1988 European championship, van 't Schip also boasts fond derby memories from his time in Serie A with Genoa, when it faced Sampdoria. ''Even months before the games, the derbies were all the Genoa fans could talk about,'' the Dutchman says. ''If we won those games then they thought it had been a good season. I was happy to score in one of the derbies, it was a great feeling.'' While Victory's new boss, Mehmet Durakovic, will be enjoying his first derby at the helm of the navy blues, as coach of Victory's Youth team last season he well remembers the buzz of those games around the club. ''You couldn't have asked for anything more from those games in terms of atmosphere, and in terms of the goals,'' he says. ''It was fantastic from both sides.''

A quick, hard-tackling defender, Durakovic broke into the National Soccer League with Brunswick Juventus, Footscray JUST and South Melbourne Hellas, before blossoming in the green and gold of the national team. One of the defender's favourite derby memories is in the NSL when his South Melbourne side faced local Greek community rival Heidelberg United in the last match at the old pre-grand prix Middle Park Stadium. Victory's new director of football, Francis Awaritefe, lined up beside him that day as their team farewelled the venue with a 4-1 win. Durakovic and Awaritefe have fresh players in their squad, apart from Harry Kewell, including Brazilian left-back Fabio Alves Macedo and former Sheffield United stopper Lawrence Thomas. Striker Mate Dugandzic, meanwhile, has moved to Heart. ''They are going to be very strong, no doubt about that, and the rivalry's going to be immense,'' says Durakovic. ''They've bought well, so have we. I'm looking forward to it and so are the players.'' Van 't Schip says Victory's great success in the A-League comes at a price. ''Last season they were not happy with their performances. Their standards are so high, having won the most championships and playing in the most grand finals. Bringing in new players and their new coach and, of course, Harry Kewell, expectations are high, and with that comes a lot of pressure. It will be very interesting to see how they deal with that.''

Honours are shared so far in Heart-Victory contests. Add Kewell and you've got another of those games that, Durakovic says, ''every player in the league wants to be part of''. ■ Melbourne Heart skipper Fred is in grave doubt for Saturday night's derby. Fred was sent for scans yesterday on the hamstring he injured during his side's 2-1 loss to Perth Glory at the weekend. With AAP