A-League supporters have been urged by Melbourne City captain Jamie Maclaren to leave the battling to the players ahead of the anniversary of the infamous derby pitch invasion.
Last December's pre-Christmas men's Melbourne derby at AAMI Park was abandoned amid some of the ugliest scenes in Australian soccer history.
Then-Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover was injured after being struck by a metal bucket when fans from the Melbourne Victory active area stormed the pitch.
Called off on the night, the game resumed in April - 109 days after the original fixture - with City defeating Victory 2-1.
Maclaren, the all-time leading A-League goalscorer, said City players hadn't discussed the incident in the lead-up to Saturday night's latest meeting between the clubs.
"It wasn't great but we've all moved on," Maclaren, who was on the pitch for the disrupted derby, said.
"Both sets of clubs have moved on and really want to focus on having the fans that want to be there and support both teams; make it a safe environment for families.
"It's kind of a new group (of players), other than a few of us that have been part of it and seen it.
"Once it happened, we wanted to move on because it wasn't something that you want to see in our game.
"I'm sure Melbourne Victory players and staff and fans think the same way.
"We'll do the battle on the pitch as players; leave that to us to entertain. We look forward to playing 90 minutes of good football."
The saga cast a shadow over the rest of Victory's 2022/23 season, as the competition powerhouse finished 11th, only above wooden-spooners Macarthur FC.
But Tony Popovic's Victory have started this campaign in cracking form to sit second on the ladder heading into round nine.
City, beaten grand finalists last season, are getting their campaign on track following a slow start.
Victory star Daniel Arzani, who played for City between 2016 and 2018, was hopeful up to 25,000 fans would be in attendance.
"I wasn't here for it (last year)," the 24-year-old said. "There hasn't been any mention of it in the changeroom.
"That's something that happened in the past. It wasn't great and we just leave it there."
Second-placed City will face Victory - one place and three points behind them on the ladder at the start of the weekend - in an A-League Women match ahead of the eagerly anticipated men's showdown.
