Kevin Keen said West Ham United are ready for the challenge when the new Barclays Premier League season gets under way at his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers this Saturday.
The first-team coach spent just under a year and a half as a player at Molineux after his decade-long first spell at West Ham came to a close back in 1993. As such, he was delighted to see them promoted this summer and is, not surprisingly, relishing this weekend's meeting between the two clubs.
Keen said: "I was only at Wolves for 15 months but it is a fantastic club and there is no doubt it is a big club. You have only got to look at their history. They have super support and a terrific stadium. It is nice to see them back up along with another of my former clubs, Stoke.
"It is great because they are two good old-fashioned clubs that deserve to be in the Premier League. Wolves had a great season and Mick McCarthy is a wonderful manager. It will certainly be a tough match.
"With it being the first game of the season, things are a little up in the air. It might work in their favour but it might work for us if they are a little too up for it as it were. We are definitely ready."
That readiness has been achieved with a pre-season training camp in central Europe before a high-profile trip to the Far East to play two matches. Keen is happy to be back in the more usual surroundings of Chadwell Heath though.
"It was nice to come back," he said. "The pitches here are wonderful and the weather is not as hot as it was in Austria and China. It has been good to be back. The lads have been training really well. The internationals have messed things up a little bit but we have done a lot of work and we are ready."
The 42-year-old does not think the time away necessarily had an impact on improving team morale because that bond had long existed. The addition of a forward or two would just be the icing on the cake for "a good squad that can look to improve on last season".
He added: "If I am being honest, there has been a togetherness built up from last year anyway. Jimmy [Luis Jimenez] has just come in and there have been no problems. He has settled in perfectly so I think that spirit was already there. Maybe it is even stronger but that spirit, that togetherness, and not just with the players but with the staff was already there."
Keen said the homegrown trio of James Tomkins, Jack Collison and Junior Stanislas were all well-equipped to play their part. "It is a big year for all the young players. Jack particularly had a super season last time and played the majority of the games compared to the other two but for all three this second year is important. They need to establish their role in the squad and improve within it. All three will do well and have a big part to play for us."
That will all start with Wolves on Saturday and Keen will be quick to warn the younger players in the squad of what to expect from the top-flight newcomers. "Their lads will be running about everywhere. The enthusiasm will be unbelievable I am sure backed by a very vociferous crowd. It will be a different test but we have a good bunch that are organised and prepared.
"We will have good support up there ourselves and we want to do things this season in the way we did them last season. That is playing good football in the tradition of the club with a little bit of class and quality but also that grit and determination which West Ham supporters expect every time we play."