A few weeks on and Heart were an entirely different proposition, Heffernan said, suggesting the fixture list had played into the hands of the Melbourne outfit by delivering them a round one derby to launch their 2012/13 campaign.

Heffernan made 13 appearances for Heart in their inaugural season but after a sending off lost his position in the starting line-up to Aziz Behich.

“Obviously they’ve started the season really well,” the 31-year-old said of his former club.

“We played them in one of their last games in the pre-season and did quite well against them. That game we did everything that was asked by the gaffer and it worked pretty well but I think it’s going to be a very different game for us this weekend.

“I think it was a blessing for them to have the derby in their opening game because they just lifted and that’s what kick-started their season.

They got the win against Melbourne, and the three points that they deserved, and they’ve sort of carried on with it. There’s no doubt it’s going to be a tough game.

Both sides are coming off the back of disappointing round two results – with Heart failing to capitalise against an understrength Wellington Phoenix and Glory losing 1-0 to Central Coast Mariners.

But Heffernan vowed the home fans would see a more focussed and dominant performance from Glory, with the team determined to atone from last weekend’s lacklustre showing.

“It was a strange game – in the first 10 minutes no one really kept the ball,” he said. “We all seemed to match off and there were individual battles but no one really took the initiative and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.

“It just never eventuated to anything. We went there with a game plan, to try and play the ball out from the back, and we didn’t offer enough for each other and I think that’s why we ended with a loss.

“It’s one game and the good thing about football is you only have to wait a week and sometimes even less to make things right.”

Without the travel Heffernan said Glory would have the benefit of squeezing in an extra training session before the crucial Heart clash.

“This is a massive game – they all are – because it’s a short season compared to other leagues and all of a sudden, before you know it, you find yourself in the last round,” he said.

“Obviously at home you just want to take as many points as you can.”

Glory, he said, had amassed plenty of confidence from last season’s run to the grand final and would be up for the challenge against a Heart side strengthened over the off-season.

“Obviously they’ve got a lot more experience in the team,” he said. “With Dylan Macallister and Richard Garcia coming into the team that’s added a lot. And with Simon Colosimo at the back and the likes of Thommo (Matt Thompson) they’ve got a really good spine.

“But I think we’re on the right track. We hit a speed hump against the Mariners but we've got a big game this weekend to make things right in front of our fans on our own turf.

“We have the confidence because we know we’re capable of a lot more than what we probably showed against the Mariners.

“We definitely haven’t taken a hit to our confidence – I think it’s more that we just have to concentrate and focus a bit harder this week in training to make sure we don’t take our foot off the pedal.”