Melbourne Victory are convinced of a 50,000-plus crowd for the first derby of the season against Melbourne Heart.

Over 40,000 fans attended last night's season opener against Sydney - and despite the drab 0-0 scoreline, Victory management are convinced of even bigger gates to come.

A Melbourne Victory spokesman told the Sunday Herald-Sun: "The whole place has been buzzing since Harry came on board.

"We think our crowd average this season will be around the 25,000 mark, which is a big increase on last season.

"We should get 50,000 at Etihad for the next home game against Melbourne Heart, so that will give us a rough total of 90,000 for the first two matches, which is fantastic."

Kewell's soap-star wife, Sheree Murphy, and their three young children were there to cheer the former Leeds United and Liverpool star on.