Few teams go to Old Trafford and win - let alone one that has barely finished their last match - but Marcus Stewart insists Ipswich desperately need victory to avoid their season shaping towards a survival fight.
Just 41 hours after their first European tie for two decades, Thursday's 1-1 draw with Torpedo Moscow, Ipswich face champions Manchester United.
Amid all the fervour of the 1981 UEFA Cup winners returning to continental competition, Town's Premiership start has not got past spluttering.
And Stewart, who missed from the spot against the Russians, fears taking nothing from this afternoon and next week's match with Leeds will leave last season's surprise package - currently 14th in the table - fumbling in the relegation zone.
Stewart, last season's 21-goal top scorer, reckons the United fixture is more important than next Thursday's second leg in the Russian capital.
"Of course we are worried by our start," said Stewart, second in the Premiership scoring charts last season and the top Englishman.
"We have a chance to get through in Europe but the match on Saturday is more important. We need to get some wins under our belt - I wouldn't be saying the United game was more important if we had got off to a good start.
"Not a lot of people go to Manchester United expecting to win but we have got to win because we are down there and if we don't beat United or Leeds we will be in the bottom three or four.
"We don't want that happening."
Ipswich, who finished fifth, actually had a worse start last year in losing three of their first five league games and £2.75million signing Stewart hopes that, as then, a positive result against Alex Ferguson's men can prove a catalyst.
Andy Cole, meanwhile, has spoken of his frustration at being axed to make way for Ruud van Nistelrooy in the Unitred forward line. Cole has been limited to just two starts since van Nistelrooy arrived from PSV Eindhoven in the summer.
The striker's opportunities have been further restricted by Ferguson's new 4-4-1-1 formation with either Paul Scholes or Juan Sebastian Veron playing in the hole behind van Nistelrooy.
Cole, who had been a regular in the United attack for the last four or five years, has spent most of this season watching on from the substitutes bench and he admitted on BBC GMR: "I've been a regular for so long that of course I'm going to be disappointed. It's very frustrating sitting on the bench and it's not my cup of tea.
"I want to play in all the games, big games and little games. I enjoy playing football and I want to play football."
Cole is reaching a critical stage in his career and he is 30 next month. He signed a new, lucrative four-year contract in February and at the time he felt he would see out his career at Old Trafford.
However, that feeling is waning with every match he starts on the bench and while some of the younger players at United may be content to bide their time, Cole knows he cannot wait forever.
Cole also has his England career to think about and he is desperate to play in this summer's World Cup Finals. "It's very difficult at my age," he said.
He could well look for a move and Newcastle are said to be interested in taking him back to Tyneside, where he made his name under Kevin Keegan before joining United in a £6 million deal in January 1995.
Cole is likely against Ipswich today because Dwight Yorke has picked up an injury in training and Ferguson will probably want to rest van Nistelrooy with Tuesday's Champions League match against Deportivo la Coruna on the horizon.
Wes Brown could also sit out the game because he has a calf niggle.
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