A back three began last week’s Melbourne derby though that was brutally exposed when going one-on-one with Victory’s attacking trio of Kewell, Hernandez and Thompson.

A quick reversal to a four-man backline and a 4-3-3 soon fixed that issue and the red and whites stormed home for a memorable 3-2 win.

Tactical adaptability has become Heart’s calling card this season and now Bolton’s former club Sydney FC stand in Heart’s way tonight at the SFS.

“What we worked on in the last two days is just adjusting the system slightly to counter their twin strike-force… making the necessary adjustments to counter that,” Bolton told au.fourfourtwo.com.

“We have to adjust slightly this week because Sydney play a different system to Victory.

“We’ve started many games and had to adjust part-way through because it wasn’t working,” he said.

“This goes back to player education and the young boys have adjusted well when needed to. It’s key for us to be flexible when things aren’t working.”

Bolton said Heart’s two main rivals at the top of the A-League – Central Coast Mariners and Brisbane Roar – play the same style each week.

“I guess we do adjust our system, while they play the same system,” he said.

“We sometimes play with a back three, sometimes a diamond in midfield, and most of the time a flat back four and three up front.

“That’s our point of difference; we’re flexible regarding our systems.”

That said Bolton conceded there was defensive confusion against Victory early doors because Heart hadn’t trained to play with a back three that week.

“The key thing is we adjusted, because in the first 20 minutes they just had way too much space," he said.

“Something had to change but fortunately the coach took the necessary action and we responded.”

As for fourth placed Sydney FC - just two points behind second placed Heart - Bolton believed the Sky Blues of this season seven are a similar model to the history making season five version – Bolton’s final campaign in sky blue which ended in grand final triumph over Melbourne Victory.

“Very disciplined; professional and very fit. That’s the basis of his [coach Vitezslav Lavicka’s] teams. To be fair that goes a long way in this league," said Bolton, 36.

Sydney are yet to drop a point from games they’ve gone ahead in this season, a point Heart coach John van't Schip will have no doubt stressed.

Bolton added: “They’re a team that’ll go for the full 90 minutes but I think we have the quality to overcome that.

“The system is the same as when I was there, so there’ll be no surprises as far as can see regarding their system.

“It’ll be interesting to see how we adjust to combat their system. It’s a different game to last week.”

In team news, Heart midfield general Jonatan Germano will again miss out due to a lingering injury while two-goal derby hero Matt Thompson missed training this week due to a flu.

Van’t Schip met with the players before their Boxing Day session to underline the fact that the euphoria of the derby was history and the next challenge is upon them.

How the Heart respond will be vital after the undoubted highs of last Friday night at AAMI Park.

“It’s back to business. That’s the message,” added Bolton.

Meanwhile, the red and whites were affected by the Christmas Day rainstorms that lashed parts of Melbourne.

Dressing rooms and the adjoining common room at their Latrobe University base in Bundoora were flooded forcing a change in grounds for training this week.

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