The Dunedin City Royals are not intending to shy away from the challenge today.
And that challenge is indeed momentous.
They host a star-laden Auckland City team at Logan Park Turf, as they play their first Chatham Cup quarterfinal since the new club was formed.
That is the same Auckland City that dominated the old national league throughout its entire spain.
It is also unbeaten, having won 19 or its 20 games and conceding just 11 goals, in this year’s Northern League.
Yet the Royals plan to take the game to the visitors — at least the best they can.
"Sort of as a team philosophy this year we’ve had, we’re having a go at teams," Royals coach Richard Murray said.
"Christchurch United and Cashmere Tech, we’ve had a go at both of them. While it’s important to be compact and not give anything away, I think we’ve got to also try to play our natural game.
"Rather than reverting to one where we put up a couple of walls and say try to break through that. We’ve got some really good defending players, we’ve got some really good attacking players.
"We’ve got to play to our strengths, rather than stopping them playing to theirs. We can sit back and try to defend, but normally it doesn’t work.
"Many teams try it, not many succeed. So we’ll have a go."
Murray admitted it not been ideal to have last week’s match against Nelson Suburbs postponed.
However, the Royals had two good wins prior to that — including the Chatham Cup round of 16 win over Nelson.
While the league had been disappointing for the Royals, dropping points it should not have the Cup remained an opportunity to garner some success.
Murray said while it would be tough, the Royals were approaching today as a "landmark" game, which would be a good test of where they were at.
"You’re only going to get better playing against better teams.
"With the national league going the way it’s gone, it is tough getting into that top two with what we’re up against.
"But we know we’re not too far away. This is a chance to test ourselves against the best side in the country, see how we go there, how we measure up and how we can improve.
"That’s the thing for us. It’s all about how we can improve and be better than we were in the last game."
The Royals were missing captain Jared Grove, but otherwise would be at full strength for the match.
Auckland City boasts a squad loaded with stars, including a familiar southern face in Dunedin-raised star Cameron Howieson.
Kickoff is at 1pm.
