Joseph will take his side to Melbourne to face the Rebels, who after a shocking start have won their past two matches, although they had the bye last weekend.
The Rebels appear to be a confidence team, with some exciting players who are also capable of having a bad night.
Joseph said the Rebels would not be taken lightly.
"They are a team who do not have great starts. They got off to a bad start against the Force and got off to a terrible start against the Hurricanes," he said.
"But they came back to win both those games, which shows they are a dangerous team. We just have to get over there, do the business and get the result."
The Highlanders received no new injuries from last Friday night's game against the Cheetahs.
The Highlanders recorded a 24-21 win over the South African side, though they spilled a bucketful of chances, and played a helter-skelter brand of rugby, moving the ball from all parts of the field.
Sometimes it came off but most of the time it led to the ball being coughed up or an opportunity lost.
Joseph said looking back at the game, the side failed to build any pressure from keeping the ball in the set piece and grinding the Cheetahs down.
"We gave every indication that we wanted to attack and we used the width of the field, which was the right thing to do against that sort of team. But we had to hold on to the ball and have them without the ball for a period of time and we did not do that."
He said it was disappointing the Highlanders did not get enough numbers to the breakdown and dominate it, which had been a strength of the team so far this season.
"We just have to get away from playing some sort of basketball and playing good, proper rugby.
"We got out of jail to win, so that is the pleasing thing from the game, and the guys hung in there to come away with the result."
First five-eighth Colin Slade had got through his first full game well, Joseph said.
He did not kick for the line from penalties, as his groin was still tight, and the team had other strong kickers in the team, he said.
Joseph said Slade did not need an operation on his groin.
The Highlanders loose forward trio impressed with their fine work on Friday night and will have another big task this week, against the Rebels pack.
The side will head to Melbourne tomorrow, travelling via Wellington.
It will then have a whole day to get accustomed to Melbourne and will also have a light run on AAMI park on Thursday.
Many of the players not in the starting side last Friday night, played club rugby in Dunedin and Invercargill last Saturday.
Joseph said the players had to get game time and would continue to play club rugby throughout the season.
Players would be aligned with clubs for the season, he said.
