The side opens its Ford Trophy one-day campaign in Nelson against Central Districts, looking to bounce back from two heavy four-day losses.
It welcomes back much-needed experience for the limited-overs formats in Neil Broom and Anaru Kitchen.
Coach Rob Walter said the duo should make a difference to what was a very young batting line-up in the Plunket Shield games.
''You'd have to think it's going to be hugely important.
''At the end of the day one thing we've been trying our best to do is fast-track experience for our younger players. But you can only do that to a point.
''The rest happens out in the middle when you've got to face quality bowlers and figure out a way to produce a quality performance.
''These are guys that have done that and we're certainly hoping that'll come to the fore.''
He said the side could not overlook the first two weeks and it had learnt a lot.
The young batsmen, in particular, had been exposed to ''two seriously good bowling attacks''.
That would help them in future, especially when they returned to the longer format.
However, despite the rough start, Walter felt the side was not too battered mentally.
It had known it was going to be under pressure and, while it would have liked to have played better, its focus was now on a new start in the Ford Trophy.
Otago is close to full strength, Michael Rae being the only unavailability while still recovering from a shoulder injury.
The side will be co-captained by Jacob Duffy and Mark Craig.
Central Districts is missing some key players.
George Worker and Will Young are both away with the New Zealand A team, while Dane Cleaver will also join that side on tour.
Adam Milne and Seth Rance will both also be away, as they are set to depart for the United Arab Emirates with the Black Caps.
The Stags have named three players to make their debut and have also drafted in former Kavanagh College pupil Kieran Noema-Barnett, who was the team manager.
He has been playing in England for the past couple of years after a long spell with the Stags.
Despite the fresh look to the home team, Walter is expecting a tough game from a team which was dominant last year, before tripping up in the final.
''I think if ever there's a time for us to put them under pressure it would be tomorrow, given they are missing a few key players and our side is as strong as it could be.
''You can never decide what the result of the game will be beforehand, otherwise we'd decide to win all the time.
''But we certainly back ourselves to be able to put them under pressure and if we do play our best game, we could find ourselves on the winning side.''
