Pain left Victory in the off-season as part of a swap-deal with Mitch Austin. The winger came through the club's youth set-up and made 53 first-team appearances.

Galloway also left Victory in October and joined Central Coast in the pursuit of regular match-time. He had three years at the club after leaving the AIS and made 54 appearances.

Both will take on Victory for the first time since their departures, when the two sides clash at AAMI Park on Wednesday.

Mariners boss Okon said he was unsure if the pair have a point to prove against the Victorian outfit.

"Whenever I went somewhere as an ex-player it's always a special moment, a special game," he said.

"There's part of you that wants to show that maybe it was a mistake [for them to let you leave]. I think both players have moved on from that and are relishing the opportunity that they've got somewhere else.

"It was a time in their careers for both of them to move elsewhere where they could have more opportunity to get regular football. Hopefully Melbourne Victory welcome them with open arms. I think both players left on good terms.

"They're good boys and it will be a special moment for both of them. Hopefully we can help them, support them and put in a good performance for them."

Victory came into the game after a 2-1 derby victory over City. Okon said his team have done their homework.

"We've looked at their last few games," he said.

"Melbourne Victory's been a top A-League team for a number of years. We're aware of their strengths.

"We feel there are areas that, their playing style suits us when we have the ball, so it's a question of whether or not we can execute that and being mindful of the fact that they're a team that can transition very quickly with Rojas, Troisi and Berisha who are top-class players."

Victory is the Mariners' first game of three in a 12-day period. Okon has been working his players hard ahead of the festive period.

"We've done a fair bit of work this week," he said.

"Beyond the game against Melbourne Victory, we have a game on New Year's Eve against Melbourne City at home and then another game seven days later against Sydney FC. The idea's been to train harder and then freshen up as we get closer to the games.

"It's going to be 10 days of hard work, that's no secret. So we need everybody on board and at the moment we only have Micky Tavares, who's back training now, we've got everyone available for selection, which is positive.

"We'll see how that pans out. If we pick up any injuries we'll see how players recover leading up to the Melbourne City game. It's an important game for us because it's New Years and Melbourne City's a top team.

"Right now it's about preparing for this game and making sure we get to a level of performance that we think will give us a chance of competing."