Melbourne Victory will be close to full-strength when they take on derby rivals Melbourne Heart tomorrow night.

With only Leigh Broxham and Ricardinho unavailable through injury, Ernie Merrick has a full squad to choose from for the second derby clash but he is well aware that this factor, as well as recent form, doesn't necessarily mean a win is a given.

"The derby will be a tough game no matter what our situations [in the league],'' he said yesterday.

''We both have returning players. We have got four players who never played in the first one - [Matthew] Kemp, [Grant] Brebner, Archie and Marvin Angulo.

''To have Carlos [Hernandez] up front with Archie Thompson and Robbie Kruse now is a big plus for us, it's getting better. Marvin Angulo is playing some terrific football … he's really getting the hang of how we play."

And Merrick knows that at this stage of the season, getting points is much more valuable than the way you actually perform.

"Things never work out the way they are planned. It's about results now, not so much about performance," he added.