Carlton coach Brett Ratten believes the AFL will soon be ready for Monday night football to become a regular part of the fixture.

The Blues take on the Saints at Etihad Stadium on Monday night, in what is the only match in that timeslot this season.

The only other Monday games are daytime matches on public holidays.

Geelong and Hawthorn played on the Easter long weekend and Melbourne and Collingwood will stage their traditional Queen’s Birthday clash in June.

But Ratten said he could foresee Monday night matches becoming more frequent, perhaps even weekly, in future seasons.

“I can definitely,” the Blues coach told the Seven Network’s AFL Game Day on Sunday.

“Maybe in the next five to 10 years I think it will be a fixture thing.

“Maybe it might be every second week or every week that Monday night footy comes into Australian football.

“I think it’s a great promotion for our game and it allows people to have a look at all the teams and I think it’s fantastic.”

The AFL has so far been unwilling to make the concept more than a one-off each season, fearing it might be unsustainable to stretch every round over four days.

This is the fourth straight year the league have scheduled a one-off Monday night game, with the previous three having each attracted well over 40,000 fans and delivered healthy television ratings.

All have been on the Mother’s Day weekend, to reduce the number of games on what tends to be a low-drawing Sunday.

The four matches have all involved St Kilda, who played Collingwood in 2009, with this the third straight year they have played the Blues.