Playing Mangere United is both familiar and a step into the unknown for Dunedin Technical player-coach Aaron Burgess.
Burgess felt the fixture had been a tough game to prepare for because his team knew so little about its opponent.
''None of our players have played against any of the players in the opposition,'' he said.
''We've done some scouting and had a few people look at them over the last few weeks. We sort of know they have a lot of attacking flair.
''They have a lot of pace up front, so we know we are going to have to try to combat that. They are really good at set pieces from what we've been told as well.
''We have enough information to have a bit of an understanding of what we are up against. But at the same time, it is hard without having seen them for yourself.''
Burgess reckons he has played ''40 to 50'' Chatham Cup games during his career.
One in particular sticks out - the 1999 final. Burgess and his old mate, Justin Flaws, both scored during the 4-0 rout of Waitakere City.
That was 16 years ago and they are both still lacing up their boots for the club.
Burgess starts from the bench these days, while Flaws is a key figure in the midfield.
While they are old hands, Burgess said the Chatham Cup never loses any of its appeal.
''It is always exciting because it is a do-or-die game. If you lose, that is it for another year. And I guess because the club has won it ... there is a lot of history.
''We have a photo of the winning team from 1999 on the wall and everyone knows it is something special when you get to the quarters, semis and hopefully the final. It is really the pinnacle of New Zealand winter football.''
Dunedin Technical has a good core.
Tom Batty is a quality keeper and central defenders Matt Joy and Andrew Douglas will be busy if Mangere United finds some rhythm up front.
Douglas has scored 11 goals this season, most of them coming from set pieces.
But Dunedin Technical's attacking power comes from talented trio Josh Stewart, Taylor McCormack and Tim Mclennan.
Mangere United coach Miraslov Nikolic said his side was also in the dark when it came to knowing much about its opponent.
''We got as much information as we could but it is not much, to be honest,'' Nikolic said.
From what he has learned, he believes Dunedin Technical will be strong in the set pieces and use route one a lot.
''They are scoring so many goals but there are so many different goal-scorers, so they are probably playing a lot of long balls and getting goals through corners and free kicks.''
Mangere has a potent striker in former Auckland City player Sanni Issa. The Nigerian-born player has been in great touch up front and will pose a serious threat.
''He is our top scorer. He's a machine. He will bring the sun,'' Nikolic said, referring to the poor weather expected in Dunedin this weekend.
Macedonian goal keeper Gjorgievski Igor and Fijian representative Salesh Kumar, the captain, will call the shots at the back, while Mokhtar Mohammadi is a hard-working midfielder with some nice touches.
Nikolic said about 100 supporters were expected to make the trip south to cheer on Mangere United.
The forecast is for snow in the hills and sleety showers with a high of 6degC.
Chatham Cup quarterfinal
Caledonian Ground
tomorrow, 12.30pm
Dunedin Technical: Tom Batty, David Hayman, Ross Howard, Andrew Douglas, Matt Joy, Michael Abbott, Justin Flaws, Tim Mclennan, Josh Stewart, Taylor McCormack, Al Rickerby, Aaron Burgess (player-coach), Tom Houghton, Michael Neaverson, John Curwen, Liam Whittaker.
Mangere United: Squad: Kartik Krith, Shalesh Kumar, Aeron Singh, Sohail Basha, Mokhtar Foladi, Shaneel Sharma, Shravan Sharma, Ernesto Lopez, Sanni Issa, Soheb Sheik, Amit Narayan, Rinal Prasad, Waleed Omar, Amon Goodin, Seth Armstrong, Cissoko Sulaymanne, Harry Brown
Road to the quarterfinals
Dunedin Technical
• Beat Old Boys 11-1
• Beat Roslyn-Wakari 3-2
• Beat Northern Hearts 10-0
• Beat Mosgiel 6-1
Mangere United
• Beat Waikato Unicol 4-2
• Beat Te Puke United 7-3
• Beat Waitemata City 2-1
• Beat Papakura City 3-1
