FC Dallas head coach Schellas Hyndman expects the Texan club to enjoy their best-ever season in the MLS in 2011.

The 2010 MLS Cup runners-up know that expectations on them are high as they prepare for their season opener against Chicago Fire at Pizza Hut Park on the weekend but Hyndman welcomes the attention and says the club's own expectations are as equally high.

"Our expectations are very high," Hyndman said. "We have established a culture of winning and that's something I wanted to do from the start.

"We also want to play attractive, organized soccer on both sides of the ball."

And veteran goalkeeper Kevin Hartman also had some thoughts for the Star-Telegram, saying that FCD had done so well last season because of the strength of character within the playing group.

"We had a lot of success based upon our ability to overcome adversity," Hartman said. "A number of games we were behind and able to come back. On different occasions, it was different players. We took advantage of different heroes in different weeks."