Which is why Muscat yesterday admitted the pointed criticism from coach Ernie Merrick after last weekend's 2-1 home loss to Queensland Roar was deserved.

"It was fair enough," Muscat said before Victory's first foray into the A-League finals.

"Everyone is subject to criticism when they don't play well. I realised myself it wasn't one of my better games.

"Individually we were below par and therefore, collectively, we were very average on the night.

"Every week, whether we win or lose, we dissect the game and focus on a number of things. We need to focus on the basics.

"From here on in it's a totally different competition. It's a sprint, if you like, the lottery of winning the finals, and we want to be in the mix."

Merrick was unhappy with the performances of about eight players who deviated from the team's plan in the loss to Roar, perhaps falling into the trap of trying to do too much when it would have been easier to share the load with teammates.

There is no question a better performance will be on the cards against Newcastle Jets tomorrow night at Energy Australia Stadium as Victory collects the premiership trophy and ends a regular season it has dominated.

It also signals the start in earnest of Victory's finals campaign, which has been a month in preparation and 12 months in the making as the players and coaching staff lived with the pain of finishing a dismal seventh last season.

"We missed playing in the finals last year and that hurt," Muscat said.

"Coming away from that we learnt so much, and obviously this season has been so different for us.

"We want to hit the ground running in the finals and maintain the form we've had throughout the season. (Finals are) where you want to be. This season's been a fairytale one for us, but by no means is it finished.

"We've still got a lot of work to do."

The real work starts next weekend with the first leg of the semi-final against the side that finishes second on the A-League table. Adelaide United is favourite to finish second behind Victory.

"Now it's only 12 or 14 days away, it has started to creep in that all of a sudden we will be playing in front of a huge crowd in the finals," Muscat said yesterday. "We're looking forward to it."

Victory will name a 16-man squad for tomorrow night's game, with Steve Pantelidis and Simon Storey left out to avoid a fourth yellow card and suspension.

Striker James Robinson will miss his second straight game, and one more omission will be made today or tomorrow.