Victory is not pleased that it has only three home games in the new Friday night free-to-air television slot, with games televised by SBS. Heart is pleased that it has five games in the same slot, reasoning that it will give it and its sponsors much-needed exposure.

Victory is also unhappy with its run to the finals. The club will play four of its last five matches away from home at a time when it could be involved in Asian Champions League action.

Those games include trips to Perth and Wellington, where it will come up against its former coach Ernie Merrick in the final match of the season. Victory takes on Merrick for the first time on Monday, November 4, at Etihad Stadium.

Most of the big games in the schedule are on a Saturday evening - many featuring Victory - which might suggest that broadcaster Fox has had a significant input into the fixturing, given its desire to have a high-rating lead-in to its English Premier League coverage on Saturday nights. Richard Wilson, Victory's managing director, said that to have ''only three Friday night home games is really disappointing, both for our fans and our corporate supporters, as Friday night sport is a major tradition in Melbourne''.

''The other disappointing factor is the number of away games at the end of the season when we could be involved in Asian Champions League competition and that we have to travel as far as Perth and New Zealand in that period.