Melbourne striker Archie Thompson says it is time the reigning A-League champions repaid their fanatical fans with a home win as the Victory prepares to face Adelaide at Etihad Stadium for the first time since last year's grand final win.
Incredibly the only club to have won two A-League titles has managed just one win from six home matches so far this season yet still lies in third place - just two points behind league leaders Gold Coast - thanks to four wins from five away games including a 2-0 win over Adelaide in September.
But the Victory are still smarting from their last home game which saw the club slip to its worst ever home defeat - 3-0 against Sydney - in front of more than 30,500 fans, the biggest crowd of the season so far.
Melbourne has consistently drawn the biggest crowds during the A-League's short history and Thompson - who scored his fifth goal of the season in last week's 3-1 win away to Newcastle - says the club is desperate not to lose to its other big rivals in Adelaide at home after having already suffered such a disappointing loss at home against Sydney.
And Melbourne goes into Saturday night's game knowing that a two-goal loss will see Adelaide leapfrog the Victory on the ladder.
"Against Adelaide it's always a special match - especially at home - and we want to do our supporters proud," Thompson said on Wednesday.
"Last time at home we lost 3-0 against Sydney in front of 30,000 fans so again this is another huge rivalry for us and we have to win matches at home against teams like Adelaide."
"We want to show everyone that (the Sydney game) was just a one-off thing."
But Thompson is wary of an Adelaide side that will go into Saturday night's game on a high following its 2-1 win over Sydney last week, which came despite playing most of the game with 10 men.
"They are going to be full of confidence after that but then we are too after going to Newcastle, where we haven't got a good record, and coming from 1-0 down to win 3-1."
After four seasons of being arguably the most stable team in the competition, the 2009-10 season has been one of change for Melbourne due to the loss of players through injury and transfers.
Already without his long-time strike partner Danny Allsopp, who has moved to Qatar, and with other regulars in Billy Celeski out for the rest of the season with a knee injury and Nick Ward only now on the mend following a staph infection - Melbourne is facing further upheaval this week with last year's grand final hero Tom Pondeljak to miss the first of up to six matches with a calf injury while veteran defender Rody Vargas is in danger of missing a rare match due to a quad strain.
That could lead to Melbourne's recent two international signings Costa Rican midfielder Marvin Angulo and Thai striker Sutee Suksomkit making their debuts for the club while impressive youngster Mate Dugandzic could win his first start after impressing off the bench in last week's 3-1 win in Newcastle.
Thompson admits this season has been the most challenging to date for Melbourne in terms of attempting to get a settled team.
But he warned that when the Victory finally does