Heart lost their first two matches of the 2011/12 campaign, going down 3-2 away to Newcastle Jets in the opening round, before suffering a 2-1 defeat at home to Perth Glory.

They secured a morale-boosting point with a 0-0 derby draw against Melbourne Victory on Saturday, when the newest club in the competition impressed against their more established rivals.

And fullback Marrone believes confidence gained from their performance against Victory will stand the team in good stead when they welcome Sydney to AAMI Park.

"I think we're still pretty positive after the Victory game," Marrone said. "Even though we didn't get the three points, I think we played a lot better.

"You've got to start from somewhere. I don't think we played particularly well the first two games and of course we didn't get any points out of it.

"To come away with a point against Victory, who are a decent side, is a good start, but we certainly need to get three points start coming in soon - so we'll start with Sydney."

Heart were without the experienced duo of goalkeeper Clint Bolton and central defender Simon Colosimo in their first two matches.

The absence of such key players was keenly felt, as John van't Schip's men conceded soft goals against Newcastle and Perth.

The pair returned for the clash with Victory, and Marrone feels their inclusion had an instant impact at Etihad Stadium.

"It felt a lot more comfortable having the experience," Marrone said. "You've got Clint Bolton in your ear the whole time and having Simon Colosimo playing next to me of course.

"He did extremely well for his first game back too."

Right-back Marrone could face one of his toughest challenges yet in Saturday's match as he must contain the threat of attacking midfielders Nicky Carle and Brett Emerton

And while Marrone has nothing but respect for the danger posed by two of the Hyundai A-League's most accomplished players, the 24-year-old will be approaching the contest like any other.

"I think if you focus too much on one player it's not a good idea," he said.

"You know a player like Emerton is going to have pace and you've got players like Nicky Carle who are always going to be tricky and slip balls in, you just have to minimise that as much as you can.

"And you have to try and not let players like Emerton get on the ball and running at you, you prefer them to have their back to goal.

"Same as when you've got Kewell or Rojas or any of those players if you get them running at you, you're in trouble."