The Highlanders will head to Brisbane today to prepare for their match against the Reds at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
The Reds are bottom of the competition ladder and have won just three games all season.
But Joseph said his side would not be taking them lightly and the Reds would be ready for a battle after enjoying the bye last week.
''They've had a week off to get refreshed. It is Will Genia's 100th game. They are waiting for us. They will attack us and we are going to have to play well to beat them,'' he said.
''They have got a lot of things to prove, not against us specifically, but they have had a disappointing season. We've had one of those. and I'm guessing their desire levels are going to be high.''
With four New Zealand teams within two points of each other, the competition is very tight in the race to the playoffs.
The Highlanders did not have the firepower to get ahead of themselves, Joseph said.
''We've got to win every game. We can't even talk about that until we get through the Reds. In terms of the competition, it is all about the process and how we prepare for the week.
"If we do that properly and perform to our potential, then we will have an opportunity on how we will do this Friday.
''We are not good enough to be thinking ahead. We are ahead of the Chiefs, drawing with the Hurricanes and the Crusaders are one point ahead.
"And all of them have three times as many All Blacks as we have. We have got to stay process-focused and just go about our work.''
The side will have a training run in Dunedin this morning before heading to Brisbane this afternoon.
The side will arrive in time to attend the first State of Origin game between New South Wales and Queensland at Suncorp Stadium tonight.
The Highlanders lost narrowly to the Crusaders last Saturday night with a contentious call at fulltime that ruled out a match-winning try to Highlanders winger Patrick Osborne.
Joseph had moved on from that decision and had more concerns about the way the side had performed in the loss to the Crusaders.
''I think the players realise we did not play that well. Statistically, we had our worst game of the season.
''We missed the most tackles in one game for the season and we gave away the most gain line in one game.
What that would suggest is we had an opportunity to win that match but we did not play that good. We need to play better, be more consistent, and if we can do that, then we can win.''
With a short turnaround, the side has had a light couple of days on the training field and the players were looking forward to getting in some sunny weather in Brisbane.
''Sometimes you over-train. Sometimes it is good to have a breather. The weather here has not been great and we trained indoors yesterday [Monday]. I think a light training week is not exactly a bad thing.''
The match on Friday night will be the last for the Highlanders for four weeks as the June international test window takes over.
The players will have a break and reassemble on June 11 with a game against the Barbarians on Invercargill on June 20.
The side plays its next competition game against the Chiefs on June 27 at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
