Martin's side is looking to do the South Island double after posting a last-gasp but deserved win over Southland last week.
Canterbury, though, is hurting after being beaten 25-24 by Manawatu last week and will want to get its Air New Zealand Cup campaign back on track.
Martin is expecting a backlash from the red and blacks.
"They are a proud province and they will come back with a hiss and a roar," he said.
"But the boys are in good spirits and we feel we played some good footy last week. The result last week was a tight squeeze but we felt we had the better of the game."
A last-minute penalty goal by Chris Noakes clinched the 25-23 win for Otago.
The side had been putting time this week into set-pieces, which Martin said needed more work after going a bit awry in the second half last week.
The team had worked hard on the delivery of the ball, and speed at the breakdown.
Martin has made just one change to his side, with No 8 Steven Setephano making his first-class debut for Otago.
Paul Grant drops to the reserves. Daniel Bowden may get a run off the bench to also make his first appearance in an Otago jersey.
Martin said the side was focused on the first home game of the season, and it wanted to put on a show for the Otago supporters.
"We want to get that sort of pride in the jersey. That makes it tough for opposition on Carisbrook and they don't want to come back here."
Martin said the fear of Carisbrook by opposition teams had been waning for the past three to five years, and he wanted to get that back.
That would start with a win today.
The weather was not expected to be flash today but Martin said there was little the team could do about that.
Day games were different from night ones, and the afternoon match could be frenetic, but conditions would dictate tactics, he said.
Canterbury coach Rob Penney said the loss last week was caused by a couple of unfortunate errors at the wrong time, which led to Manawatu scoring points.
He said they were individual mistakes and he was not hitting the panic button yet.
"It was not a physical thing.
Some of the players just did not front properly but it was not across the board."
It was still early in the season but a loss today would leave Canterbury behind the eight ball, Penney said.
"We have just got to get back on the horse. Last week is irrelevant now. It's all about how we perform this week."
This week at training the team had worked at eliminating those errors, focusing on better ball retention.
Penney has the luxury of selecting a pack in which every player has Super 14 experience.
But he is still without five-eighth Stephen Brett, who is struggling to shake off a quad injury.
Colin Slade gets his first start for the province at first five-eighth.
Further out, Paul Williams will return to Carisbrook after a stellar year for the Highlanders earlier this season.
Otago winger Karne Hesketh plays his 15th and blazer game.
