The Hyundai A-League Grand Final now appears certain to go ahead at the Melbourne stadium on Saturday February 28 with the AFL likely to have to shift its proposed NAB Cup quarter-final clash between Collingwood and Richmond - also booked at Docklands on that day - to either the Thursday or Monday night.

Sportal understands that a clause in the user agreement between Telstra Dome and the AFL gives Dome management the right to stage the A-League Grand Final at the ground in the event it clashes with an AFL pre-season match.

The AFL is claiming it has the right to stage the Collingwood-Richmond clash - which is likely to feature Ben Cousins' first official appearance in Tiger colours - at the Dome because it booked the venue on that day back in October when it released its 2009 fixture.

In contrast Melbourne Victory only earned the right to a home grand final at Telstra Dome by thrashing Adelaide United on Saturday night in the major semi-final.

However Telstra Dome spokesman Bill Lane told Sportal on Tuesday he expected the A-League Grand Final to go ahead at the ground on February 28 as expected while Football Federation Australia (FFA) is also certain it won't have to move its showpiece game to another date.

"We believe it will be resolved shortly," Lane said of the fixture stand-off.

"We have no doubt the A-League Grand Final will go ahead as scheduled."

It is believed the AFL was originally happy to re-schedule the Collingwood-Richmond game from the Saturday night to the Thursday night but then came under pressure from Channel Ten - which will broadcast the Pies-Tigers' clash - to keep the match on a Saturday night given the likelihood of bigger ratings for the game on the weekend, particularly if Cousins makes his comeback following his one-year drugs suspension.

"As far as we are concerned Thursday night or Monday night would be good outcomes (to stage the Pies-Tigers) match but we are waiting to hear back from the AFL," Lane said.

Ironically Collingwood is happy for its clash to be moved to the Thursday night because it would then give the Pies more time to prepare for a NAB Cup semi-final clash the following weekend in the event it wins.

The Dome is also being used on the Friday night before the A-League Grand Final for the Essendon-Brisbane NAB Cup quarter-final clash as well as on the Sunday night for another NAB Cup quarter-final.

But Lane dismissed any concerns the surface would not be up to scratch for the A-League Grand Final should the Pies-Tigers' clash be moved to the Thursday night, which would mean the ground would stage two AFL matches in two days prior to A-League premiership decider.

"We don't believe there will be any surface problems," he said.

"The soccer pitch is in pretty good shape and the A-League was happy with how it played on the weekend (during Melbourne Victory's A-League semi-final win)."

The fixture clash, which was revealed as a possibility on Sportal last week, has come about because the MCG is also unavailable because of cricket while Carlton's Visy Park - which now has a capacity of only around 20,000 due to recent renovations - is deemed too small to host the Pies-Tigers clash.