The Mariners inability to perform well at Bluetongue Stadium last year was a key factor in the club's poor season.

One of Arnold's main missions when he took over as coach was to make Bluetongue a tough venue for visiting teams.

In only two matches at home this season the Mariners had the better of a 1-1 draw against Adelaide and disposed of Melbourne Victory 2-0 last week in what was the team's best performance of the campaign.

Arnold is hoping for another strong showing when Melbourne Heart are the visitors on Friday night.

"We need our home form to be good," Arnold said. "It hasn't been great over the past couple of years. It's vital to keep picking up points at home - so far so good."

With a new coach and several new players, many A-League followers were predicting the Mariners would struggle in the early rounds.

But the team has been one of the success stories during the first five rounds. With two wins, two draws and only one defeat, the Mariners are sitting nicely in fourth spot.

Arnold added: "We've had a good start but there's a long way to go. I don’t even look at the table at this stage of the season."