Highlanders assistant coach Mark Hammett said yesterday the first five-eighth missed training just as a precaution and Sopoaga was confident he would front for the afternoon derby.
Sopoaga had a slight calf strain but it was minor.
''He said he was as good as gold. We have still got quite a few days leading up to Saturday and he is tracking well. We will have a look later in the week,'' he said.
Hammett said there was a slight concern over the fitness of flanker Dillon Hunt, who had a small problem with a gluteal muscle.
''Everyone else is good and we are tracking well. When you have local derbies like this it has been in the back of the mind for a couple of weeks now. But we need to maintain our composure and just keep the feet on the ground before we get up there.''
Hammett said the game was still about the basics and doing the best for the team.
There was no talk of payback for the heartbreaking loss earlier this season.
''You prepare every game to win so if you call that payback, then so be it. It was a tough one to swallow last time but, in the end, they probably deserved it. Our last 25 minutes in that game was not our best effort. But we have learned a lot from that.''
The Crusaders have won all 13 games in the season so far, while the Highlanders have won nine in a row after a disappointing start.
He did not think the Highlanders team was flying under the radar.
''Perhaps to others, but it has been pretty hard fought and arduous at times in terms of injury and travel. We are proud of where we are at, but it means nothing if we do not win this weekend.''
The Highlanders scrum performed well last game against the Waratahs and would get further examination by an All Black-laden Crusaders forward pack.
''It [scrum] has been a progressive thing. Derms [Clarke Dermody] has been doing a great job and there has been a collective buy-in in what we are doing. The scrum is not the same week in, week out ... so you need to adjust.''
Speculation around the head coaching role would continue but Hammett said he would cross that bridge when he got to it.
Hammett was a member of the 2002 Crusaders who went through the season unbeaten, and the current Crusaders side would break that side's record with a win on Saturday.
He remembered the side's confidence grew as the wins piled up.
''You get to a certain point in the season you are just so confident, you just do not want to win, you want to play well.''
Now the focus was for the Highlanders to put pressure on attack and defence and create doubt.