Dean Mumm has pronounced himself fit and ready to go for Exeter Chiefs as they start their defence of the LV= Cup.
The skipper has not played this season after having a shoulder operation in the summer.
But the 30-year-old is set to return for Saturday's opening group game against Gloucester at Sandy Park.
He is likely to be joined by Luke Cowan-Dickie as head coach Rob Baxter welcomes back a few players from injuries.
And the Australia international is keen to get as much game time as he can against Gloucester and Bath seven days later to get himself battle hardened for the return to Aviva Premiership duty at Northampton on November 14.
Mumm said: "It's been a little while and it feels a bit longer for me than otherwise because it includes pre-season. It's nice to be back and nice to know I've got a fit and healthy shoulder.
"It will be all about getting myself involved early on and then you build your confidence from there.
"It gives me an opportunity to hopefully get some game time in to build that match fitness before we get back into a pretty solid group of Premiership games.
"I've worked hard on my fitness with the rehab conditioners but there is no match for match fitness.
"People will probably see me breathing quite hard, but I probably won't be the only one as we've got a few guys coming back getting their first start this weekend."
Mumm scored one of his side's two tries as they beat Northampton 15-8 in the final of the LV= Cup at Sandy Park in March.
The former New South Wales Waratahs ace knows that if they want to be involved in knockout matches towards the end of this season, they need to be winning matches now.
That includes the LV= Cup group games, so Mumm is keen for his side to get off to a decent start.
"This time of year is when you create opportunities at the back end," he said.
"You want to be playing in those big games at the end of the year and every opportunity we take now gives us a greater chance of being able to be in a place we want to be at the back end of the season.
"Every time we run out in the shirt is an opportunity to do that and this weekend in the LV is certainly no different.
"The last time we played (in the LV= Cup) we were lucky to be at home in a big game and perform well. While that's a good memory, it's time to try and start on the road to creating some more."
As has always been the case in the LV= Cup, Baxter will give a host of academy prospects a chance to show what they can do this weekend.
Most of the players dual registered with Plymouth Albion and the Cornish Pirates in the Championship can expect to get some game time.
And Mumm is looking forward to playing his part on the field to help them progress and also see up close just how good the youngsters coming through the ranks are.
"There's some pretty exciting guys in there, Max Bodilly is an example of that," Mumm said of the academy players.
"Luke Cowan-Dickie is someone who has graduated from that and there's a lot of people at that stage of their careers in this team, then you've got the old boys like me, Brett Sturgess and Ceri Sweeney.
"It's a lovely mix, and I'm certainly relishing the chance to play with some of these younger guys and get a really good insight because from what I've seen I think they're all really talented."
