After a couple of weeks of hibernation, Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic will finally get to strap on their boots again and take the field as they travel to the Massey University campus today to face the university side in the Lotto Federation league consolation grade.
Meanwhile the Athletic Reserves will be joining them on their trip to Palmerston North as they return to Skoglund Park with the Palmerston North Marist 3rds welcoming them in the Western Premiership.
After sitting about for two weeks, with very few of the squad getting any real game time in that period, the Athletic first team will need to quickly blow out the cobwebs, and get back onto the task of taking a step forward and claiming a win from their season.
With the remaining rounds of the competition effectively splitting into a Top 4 and Bottom 4 teams format, the Reds should have a chance to pick themselves up and prove that they are more than just making up numbers in the competition.
Massey have had the measure of Athletic in each of the occasions the two sides have met, despite the university team being the closest to them on the table, but that should also prove as a good incentive for the men in red to perform today.