Nigel Clough believes Aston Villa will be high on confidence for Tuesday's trip to the Pirelli Stadium - and he says his Burton Albion side should feel just the same.
The Villans head into their meeting with the Brewers on the back of a six-game unbeaten run in the Championship.
Back-to-back victories over Barnsley and Nottingham Forest have lifted them to ninth in the table and undermined some of the early-season pressure on manager Steve Bruce.
Clough knows that form means his players must be wary of the momentum Villa will bring to the Pirelli.
But given that Burton have taken five points from their last three outings and defeated promotion-contenders Fulham in their last home game, the Brewers boss sees no reason for his team to meet confidence face on with confidence.
"I think they'll probably be as confident as at any time since the start of the season now, with those back-to-back wins," said Clough.
"So we have to be prepared for that.
"But we should be buoyant as well. We should be in good fettle going into the game.
"It should be one to look forward to."
After losing their first three games of the season, Clough's Albion have responded in characteristically resilient fashion.
They might have secured their first away win at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday had they been in a more clinical mood for the first 45 minutes.
And with some momentum building in their campaign, Clough is now calling on his team to show ruthlessness at the key moments if they are to get the better of sides like Villa tonight.
"We hope the last few weeks are a good indication of what we are going to be doing," he added when discussing their current situation.
"We've just lost the one league game at Leeds United (since their losing run at the start of the season), and since then we've been battling away to two draws on the road with clean sheets, and a great win against Fulham.
"We are hoping that that is more of an indication.
"We're going to lose the odd game, and sometimes it's better if you get all the rubbish out of the way in one game.
"Then we bounce back with two clean sheets on the road.
"The next stage for us, and the progress now, is to try to win those games, and win them in the first half when we've had the majority of the play.
"Don't wait for the second half, because the game won't be the same throughout the 90 minutes.
"Teams like QPR and Norwich City (with whom they drew 0-0 a fortnight ago), if they come in at half-time, they are maybe going to get a little bit of a rollocking.
QPR 0 - 0 Burton Albion
"They'll say, 'come on, you're playing against Burton Albion, you're entitled to be a bit better'.
"Both sides improved in the second half.
"So we've got to learn to take our opportunities when they come, whether it's in the first 10 or 15 minutes, or the last 10 or 15 minutes."
