The Volts have not played for a week and will be looking to get on to a winning roll as they face a Canterbury side sitting at the top of the table of the Ford Trophy one-day domestic competition.
Otago was scheduled to play Central Districts in New Plymouth last Sunday. Rain washed out that match, although Otago did manage to get points on the board.
Since then, the team has moved to Christchurch and trained in the city yesterday.
Coach Nathan King said the side had a couple of days off around New Year and no game last weekend meant the team should be reasonably fresh for the game today.
"The guys have had a bit of time off and, hopefully, that would have got them fresh for the game. The guys are still very positive and looking forward to the game,'' King said.
"We've got five games left and we probably need to win at least three of them. So the game is not a must-win but we have got to get a win pretty soon.''
Through scheduling and not playing on Sunday, Otago's most recent match was against Canterbury on December 30, a match in which the bowlers did the job but the batsmen failed to fire and the red and blacks won the match in Alexandra by 65 runs.
King said the side had talked about individuals taking responsibility for their performance and working hard on their game.
Both the batting and bowling need to work on the same day for Otago to be in with a crack against what is a talented Canterbury side.
One of the top four batsmen needs to get a score and hold the innings together. Neil Broom and Hamish Rutherford loom as key men.
Broom scored big in the first game of the season against Auckland while Rutherford has dropped down the order and needs a significant score for Otago to be in with a chance.
Brad Wilson is again likely to carry the drinks, although another batting failure by the top order may well give him his chance.
Otago's bowling attack will welcome back Jacob Duffy after he missed the first two games at Alexandra, following a heavy workload in the past months.
Duffy has often been the catalyst in breaking a threatening partnership and will look to do so once again against a Canterbury batting line-up which does not go particularly deep.
Canterbury's most recent game was also rain-affected. It had Wellington three wickets down for not many on Sunday before the weather had the final say.
The Canterbury side had a couple of comfortable wins to start off the competition.
Canterbury coach Gary Stead said his team had been bowling well but was likely to face a batting wicket today at Hagley Oval, so the bowlers would have to be accurate.
The Canterbury batting centres on the experienced Peter Fulton. Ronnie Hira and captain Andrew Ellis are experienced men who can also be handy with the bat.
Hamish Bennett and Edward Nuttall head what is a handy bowling line-up for the home team.
Otago will return to Dunedin for a couple of days after the game before heading away again to take on Northern Districts in Whangarei on Sunday.
Otago v Canterbury
Christchurch, today, 11am
Otago Volts: Hamish Rutherford (captain), Brad Wilson, Michael Bracewell, Neil Broom, Jimmy Neesham, Anaru Kitchen, Derek de Boorder, Sam Wells, Mark Craig, Neil Wagner, Jacob Duffy, Warren Barnes.
Canterbury: Andrew Ellis (captain), Leo Carter, Michael Davidson, Peter Fulton, Todd Astle, Ronnie Hira, Cameron Fletcher, Cole McConchie, Edward Nuttall, Hamish Bennett, Logan van Beek, Kyle Jamieson.
