Defiant boss Seb Hayes insists that he and his Holbeach United side won’t be fearful of title favourites Rugby Town on Saturday (3pm).
The Tigers make the trip to Butlin Road in good form, having won back-to-back fixtures against Kirby Muxloe and Boston Town.
But Hayes admits that Rugby, relegated from Step Four of the non-league ladder for the first time in 34 years last season, will be a different animal to contend with.
Many have the Warwickshire side as overwhelming favourites to conquer the UCL this year and it is widely accepted that they have a group of players that should be operating at a higher level.
It kicks off a tough run of games for the Tigers, which includes clashes with Deeping Rangers, Cogenhoe United and Leicester Nirvana in the next month.
“We’ve got nothing to lose,” insisted the Holbeach chief. “We’ll certainly not go there and sit back.
“We know very little about each other, I’m sure, so my thinking is ‘let’s go there and see what they are made of’.
“All I’ve heard people say over pre-season is that Rugby are the favourites, that they have a big budget and that they should be playing at a higher level.
“Make no mistake about it, they are a proper club with a proper stadium and a big fanbase.
“It’s a great test for us and, I’ll be honest, we’re really looking forward to going there.
“Can we go there and put the cat among the pigeons? I don’t know, there are so many permutations.
“But we’ll go there and give it everything that we’ve got.
“It’ll be good for us to test ourselves against a manager and players that have recently been at a higher standard.
“We’ve got a tricky run of games ahead, perhaps the hardest run of any side in the league, but we’ll take it one game at a time.”
Hayes has no new injury or selection concerns ahead of the trip, but is hopeful of getting key defender Jamie Stevens back in training next week.
Rugby have won both of their home games so far this season, beating Evesham United 1-0 in the Emirates FA Cup and battering Boston Town 5-2 in the league.
They have been beaten, however, going down 1-0 at Leicester Nirvana on August 7.
