The Highlanders have received a welcome boost ahead of their clash with the top of the table Chiefs this Saturday.
All Black winger Waisake Naholo has returned from a fractured leg and coach Jamie Joseph has rolled out the red carpet.
"Ah well, it's changed my confidence," Joseph laughed on news Naholo has returned to the squad.
"There's a general feeling in and around that when you get key players back the moral of the team really lifts and Waisake is a quality player and a current All Black."
The mouth-watering clash has potential for plenty of running rugby and Joseph knows both teams are capable of punishing missed tackles.
"People starting licking their lips about what kind of match it's going to be and both teams do like to attack and if teams are going to slip off tackles, or make mistakes, the likes of [Ben Smith] and [Damian] McKenzie are going to run it.
"I think that opens it up for a really open game of footy."
The Highlanders have won their last four contests with the Chiefs, and Smith is satisfied with their current run of form going into the contest.
"We're not trekking too bad, we're trying to do as well as we can each week," Smith said.
"It was obviously good to get on the right end of it at the weekend and previous to that we probably just didn't quite nail a few things. I think in this competition if you do that you end up on the wrong side.
"Speaking on behalf of this team I think we're really looking forward to this challenge ahead, it's a good Chiefs team, and these are the games you want to play in."
Injury has overshadowed the Highlanders side, with Shane Christie, Liam Squire and Rob Thompson all out of this weekend's clash.
Highlanders: 1. Daniel Lienert-Brown, 2. Ash Dixon, 3. Josh Hohneck, 4. Alex Ainley, 5. Tom Franklin, 6. Elliot Dixon, 7. Dan Pryor, 8. Luke Whitelock, 9. Aaron Smith, 10. Lima Sopoaga, 11. Patrick Osborne, 12. Malakai Fekitoa, 13. Matt Faddes, 14. Waisake Naholo, 15. Ben Smith
Reserves: 16. Greg Pleasants-Tate, 17. Aki Seiuli, 18. Siosiua Halanukonuka, 19. James Lentjes, 20. Gareth Evans, 21. Fumiaki Tanaka, 22. Marty Banks, 23. Teihorangi Walden.
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