Pressure on Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi in the Carling Knockout will be huge but history shows that early cup tournaments are not necessarily make or break for a new coach at the club.
After nine seasons of not winning a trophy and following a blistering start to the Premiership, there will be pressure on Nabi to do well in his first official cup on offer, after Amakhosi did not qualify for the MTN8.
The Glamour Boys will be up against SuperSport United in the first round of the tournament on Saturday evening at Peter Mokaba Stadium.
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Would going far in the Carling Knockout be a barometer for the Tunisian?
The last coach to win trophies at Chiefs, Stuart Baxter, had a horrible start in the first official cup after he was appointed in 2012, following a 4-1 hammering by Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 quarter-finals.
However, Baxter went on to win the league and Nedbank Cup double in that season.
Ahead of the clash against SuperSport, Nabi says even though it is still early days since he took over, they will be approaching the game with a winning mentality.
"The fact that we're in the process of building a team does not stop us from having a winning mentality. We go into every game with a winning mentality, whether it's a cup or the championship," Nabi told journalists in a pre-match press conference.
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"We don't want to hide behind the fact that we're building and therefore the result is secondary, no. What is sure, I'm promising the fans that all the games, regardless of what game it is, we're going to make sure to do our best," the Tunisian said.