Heart's Worm has turned

Heart, which is winless in its opening three matches and sits bottom of the table, takes on top-of-the-table Perth at a venue where Glory easily beat last year's grand finalist Melbourne Victory a fortnight ago.

Adding to the pressure is Heart needing a win to help establish a footprint in the Melbourne sporting landscape, or risk losing much of the goodwill and curiosity factor afforded the competition newcomer.

But winger Worm, who formerly played in the Netherlands' top-flight before moving to Australia, believes Heart's work-in-progress is well on the way to becoming the finished article.

Worm struggled badly in his opening two matches but was far more lively in the 3-2 loss to Adelaide United last weekend - scoring a well-taken header as his technical quality shone through.

"We played not good enough (against Adelaide) but every week we go a little bit better," Worm said.

"Every game I've been a bit better. The first game was different - long balls and physical - but now I'm getting used to it.

"It's a bit more physical (than the Netherlands) and fast as well. Technically, it's not always really good, so maybe that is one thing I can hopefully do better than some other guys."

Heart coach John van 't Schip believes Worm, who played more than 100 Eredivisie matches for NEC Nijmegen before coming to Melbourne, will prove a quality addition both for his team and the competition.

"Last week he made good improvement, he made a good goal, and for him it was very important coming into a new country and a new league that he made a step forward," Van 't Schip said.

Both sides go into Sunday's clash significantly weakened.

Heart has lost Socceroos centre-back Michael Beauchamp with an ankle injury, joining playmaker Josip Skoko and experienced striker John Aloisi on the sidelines.

But Glory has lost former Australia international Mile Sterjovski and reliable defender Jamie Harnwell through injury.

"We have our problems, they have their problems, but at the end of the day you have to deal with that," Van 't Schip said.

"Every week there will be something going on with a team, and we have to sort out our lineup and then deal with what Perth are going to do."