Avram Grant is raring to go for tonight's Carling Cup quarter-final tie with Manchester United and ready to renew old rivalries with Sir Alex Ferguson.
The two managers famously went head to head in the 2008 UEFA Champions League final, when only a 6-5 penalty shoot-out loss denied Grant the ultimate prize in European football. The two managers are close off the pitch and Grant revealed he had spoken to his Scottish counterpart, with tongue firmly in cheek, to ask him to rest a few stars.
"Sir Alex Ferguson is a good friend of mine and it is always a pleasure to welcome him and everyone else connected with our visitors," said Grant. "United are the form team in the country at the moment and scored seven goals on Saturday but we will not fear them.
"We can only worry about ourselves and I am confident the players will rise to the occasion, as will the supporters. They were great on Saturday."
Grant will be without some key players, with major concerns over Scott Parker, Valon Behrami and Frederic Piquionne after Saturday's exertions. Late decisions could be made on who lines up, but the manager is determined to field as strong a side as he possibly can.
That weekend win against Wigan Athletic has boosted everyone around the Boleyn Ground, with this evening's fixture expected to go ahead as normal. Mexico winger Pablo Barrera may not be used to such wintry conditions but he is also up for the cup.
Barrera, who will come up against international team-mate Javier Hernandez, said: "As every week goes by, I am settling in more to the team and life in London. There is a good atmosphere at the club and I like my team-mates a lot. The stadium is great and I am sure there will be strong support from the fans on Tuesday night.
"Of course we are happy with the result against Wigan. We are better but now we have to keep working for the match on Tuesday. It is important that we try to keep this winning mentality.
"In general the team has been playing well but we just needed that focus until the last second of the game. We had that on Saturday and, of course, we will need to do this against United as they are a strong team."