The Greens, on the other hand, have had two games in the past four weeks – enough to both keep them ticking over after a long season and allow key players sufficient time to rest and recuperate after a draining campaign. Bentleigh finished top of the table in the NPL Victoria, a full six points clear of nearest challenger Heidelberg, but could not manage back to back grand final successes, going down to Oakleigh in a semi-final. They also experienced disappointment in the NPL Champions League, losing at home to NSW club Edgeworth at the first time of asking, so they have plenty of incentive to end a season which promised so much, but failed to deliver a title, on a high note. That's a point Anastasiadis is acutely aware of – not that he is understimating the degree of difficulty his side faces. "They are a great team and you only have to look at the players they have to call on. Marco Rojas has looked sharp since he came back, Besart Berisha's record speaks for itself and Mitch Austin is a good player. And now they also have James Troisi back playing in an attacking midfield role, they have so many options that it might look a bit scary," he said.

"But we have a chance to make a big statement and build on the history and tradition of this club. We won't go in frightened or feeling like we are an underdog. It's on our ground, in front of our fans, and while they have looked sharp in pre-season matches winning lots of games we will take it right up to them." Bentleigh have had to invest heavily to improve their stadium infrastructure, money which will eat into the profits they have made from their current Cup run. But even if they were to bow out to Victory, Greens would still be able to clear around $30,000 from their run to the last eight, with the promise of a much bigger payday should they pull off one of the shocks of the year and knock out the reigning Cup holders. Bentleigh players are certainly not shying away from a game that will for many be the biggest fixture of their careers to date, although the semi-final clash with Perth Glory two years ago (when they gave a good account of themselves before losing at home) will also rank high. Centre half Jack Webster, who played for the Greens when they lost to Perth Glory in the inaugural FFA Cup semi-final two years ago, is confident that his team may have a crucial fitness edge over their A-League rivals at this respective stage of the preparation.

"You want them to be fresh, so when we do beat them they won't have any complaints," he told the club's website. "We've done well in the FFA Cup and won the league, I don't see why we can't go in there and turn them over." Webster is not the only Bentleigh man with experience of taking on A-League opposition. Luke Pilkington played for Victory earlier in his career while Liam McCormick also played in the match against Perth Glory, which drew a crowd of more than 3000. They will, however, be handicapped by the loss through injury of skipper Wayne Wallace. Victory boss Kevin Muscat was himself involved in plenty of FA Cup boilovers during his time in England – leading second tier Millwall to the final against Manchester United in 2004 – so he knows that matches such as these are banana skins that his big name team simply cannot afford to slip up in.

"It's been tense in the last couple of days and it's expected. The playing group have put in almost 12 weeks of work and they sense that the games are going to start and everyone wants to be included," Muscat said in the build up to the game. Victory dealt with another NPL Victoria side in Hume City at the semi-final stage last season, en route to winning the competition, and go into this match hot favourites to progress to the semi-finals once again. If they get there they could face a meeting with cross city rivals Melbourne City, Sydney FC (both of whom have already qualified) or NPL sides Canberra Olympic or Victoria's Green Gully, who meet in the ACT in the other quarter-final on Tuesday evening.