Paul Hartley believes Cove Rangers will be written off against Hibernian in their League Cup Group B opener.
But he hopes his players can show what they are capable of and make it a difficult afternoon for the Edinburgh side.
Although no fans will be in attendance at the Balmoral Stadium, Cove will be playing in front of a national audience with Saturday’s fixture being broadcast live by Premier Sports.
Hartley hopes his players – who won the League Two title by 13 points last season – can step up to the plate against Premiership opposition who have lost only twice in their first 10 league games this term.
He said: “It’s great, it’s the first televised game the club has had at home.
“The preparation has started and we’re up against a quality team who have had a great start to the season, so it’s a great game for us.
“I don’t think anybody expects Cove to win. What we want to try to do is put on a good performance, compete as well as we can and then you never know.
“I trust my players and they’ve been excellent since we came in. This is a good occasion for them live on the TV and hopefully they can do well.”
In normal circumstances Cove would have faced Hibs in front of a capacity crowd at the Balmoral Stadium.
Instead coronavirus restrictions mean, that like matches across the whole country for the foreseeable future, this weekend’s fixture will be behind closed doors.
Hartley believes the atmosphere at games has suffered as result of supporters being shut out.
The former Hibs, Hearts, Celtic, Aberdeen and Scotland midfielder added: “That’s the disappointing thing no fans being able to attend because I think players thrive off supporters.
“We would have had a full house for the game and that’s the disappointing thing.
“You need fans at football – there’s no doubt about it – it’s just not the same.
“I’m not sure if the quality of games has suffered (without fans), but it’s the atmosphere that suffers and the players definitely feed off of the atmosphere. We do need supporters back.”
In preparation for the new campaign, Cove have played friendlies against Brechin City, Dundee (twice), Fraserburgh and Banks o’ Dee and Hartley believes his squad is in a good place.
He said: “Pre-season has been good, we’ve had a lot of good performances and some tough games. I never get too carried away with pre-season, yes you always like to win, but results are not the most important thing.”