Melbourne Heart coach John Aloisi remains convinced of his side's fitness and firepower despite missing the chance to go top of the A-League ladder.

The Heart's 1-1 draw with Wellington Phoenix at AAMI Park on Sunday was a mixture of disappointment and relief for the rookie coach - mirroring a game in which his side bossed the first 45 minutes and scrapped for the second.

The match spun on Heart defender Simon Colosimo's early second half send-off for a deliberate handball to deny a certain Phoenix goal.

It proved a double whammy as Wellington's Paul Ifill scored the resulting penalty to level the scores, the Heart had to make do with 10 men, and a chance to beat an understrength Phoenix went begging.

But Aloisi says he's thrilled with how the unbeaten Heart have started the season, and is convinced his players' superior fitness and growing confidence is going to take them a long way in his first season in charge.

"You can see how confident they are, how fit they are and we probably could have snatched it," Aloisi said.

"I'm actually quite happy and I know we are going to get better.

"The disappointment is we didn't kill them off when we had the chances. The way we played, I'm not disappointed in. Even with 10 men, we played well."

The Heart could have joined Adelaide United as the only teams with maximum points after two rounds if they had beaten the undermanned Phoenix as expected.

The Heart's next match is away to Perth Glory on Sunday.