Cahill's first appearance in the A-League is against his new club's fiercest rivals in front of what should be a crowd in excess of 40,000.
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'I'm not expecting a nice welcome' in derby - Cahill
Melbourne City star Tim Cahill is expecting to cop it from Victory fans when the rivals meet in Saturday's derby at the Etihad Stadium.
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It will come just four nights after he played at the same venue for Australia against Japan.
While he is adored by Australian fans for his exploits for the Socceroos, Cahill does not expect to feel too much love from the blue side of Melbourne come Saturday.
"I'm not expecting a nice welcome. I don't expect them to give me a clap," he told a news conference on Wednesday.
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"The same way they didn't at Liverpool when I played there [for Everton] numerous amounts of times, the same as when I was at Millwall or in New York.
"That's the beauty of the game we play. It's part and parcel but at the same time there would have been some Melbourne Victory supporters there last night supporting the Socceroos which I was part of.
"Whether it's domestically, internationally, it's what comes with the territory."
While he will try and play down the hype to his team-mates in the build-up, the 36-year-old knows the importance of the fixture for the club's fans.
"Any derby that's played the biggest thing is the fans. It's having the keys to the city for your supporters and it's a big thing having to wake up the next morning a winner," Cahill said.
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"It's the whole week having to live with the result. And trust me if you play with Everton or Millwall, you can't go out for two weeks literally to put petrol in your car.
"It's the same feeling I'm going to have going into this game."
It is unclear at this stage if City boss John van 't Schip will use Cahill from the start on Saturday, having been involved in both games for the Socceroos.
But Australia's greatest-ever goal-scorer says he is ready to go.
"I'm buzzing. Even last night coming on [against Japan] was an amazing feeling," he said.
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"Playing five minutes in Saudi [Arabia], 25 minutes last night, I've been doing extras in camp anyway.
"I'm ready to go. It depends on team selection and the way we're going to play, but I'm ready to go."
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