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Jim Goodwin puts Hearts struggles into perspective as Dundee Utd boss flips Benfica script United travel to Tynecastle to take on Wouter Vrancken's team on Sunday and Goodwin knows well how tough travelling can be Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin is not reading too much into Hearts’ slow start under Wouter Vrancken. The Jambos crashed out of the Champions League qualifiers to Sturm Graz and a late collapse at Aberdeen in their Premiership opener cost them three points. Things don’t get any easier for Hearts as they take on Benfica in the Estadio de Luz in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier tonight. Goodwin knows Hearts and their new manager have had a baptism of fire but knows given time they will find their feet given time. The United boss claimed: “Hearts have had a change of manager and it takes a bit of time to change the style. “The way he wants to play in comparison to the way Derek McInnes set his team up is different and that can take a little bit of time for the players to understand that. “I don't think Hearts have played particularly badly and they've been a little bit unlucky in certain situations. “They've obviously got one or two injuries to key players as well. “But they are still a very, very good team. “You can see the strength in depth they've got, they've got a number of good quality players right throughout their squad. “There are a number of players missing out even from the 20-man squad on the matchday.” United travel to Tynecastle on Sunday. Goodwin believes they will need to reproduce similar levels as they showed against Rangers in their opening day draw at Tannadice, where Lachlan Rose scored. He stated: “Hearts are playing a similar way that we play, in terms of formation so I look forward to it. “But we've just got to concern ourselves with what we do, and if we go and do what we've done on Friday night, then we'll give ourselves a good chance. “We will have to replicate the performance that we put in against Rangers. “They’re very strong and Tynecastle is always a difficult away game - it’s one of the best games in the league when you go there. “The players always look forward to it.” United struggled at the start of last season to juggle Conference League and domestic football. Goodwin reckons United didn’t have the squad size, but that shouldn’t be an issue for Hearts., who have strength and depth. Goodwin is hoping Hearts can spring a surprise against Benfica in Lisbon. He claimed: “Hearts have a really big squad and if you're going to compete in Europe as well as domestically then you need to have a large squad to deal with that. “It’s something we struggled with last year because we didn't have the numbers in the building to do Thursday-Sunday. “I think Hearts have got enough in their squad to be able to make the necessary changes and it’s not going to weaken the team too much. “But I'd be lying if I didn't say that travelling is difficult. “You're travelling out there a day before the game then you're not travelling back maybe until the Friday morning so it does impact your preparation. “But it remains to be seen whether that's going to be in our favour or not. “They could go to Benfica and put on a brilliant performance and take a lot of confidence from it. “We'll just have to see how it all pans out. “But we'll be watching the Benfica game, obviously, and we'll be wishing Hearts well in that because we want the Scottish teams to do well in Europe.” Anderlecht remain in talks over a move for United's Will Ferry. Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources . Click HERE. Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.