Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is hoping the cup glory he enjoyed in Italy can be transferred to his new club ahead of their FA Cup third round tie with Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Mancini, who has won both of his first two Premier League games in charge at Eastlands after replacing Mark Hughes as manager a fortnight ago, is under no illusions as to how tough this weekend's encounter at the Riverside will be.
However, Mancini has an impressive record when it comes to cup competitions in his homeland, winning the Coppa Italia six times as a player as well as winning the trophy when manager of Lazio and Fiorentina and twice when in charge of Inter Milan.
He was the winning manager for three consecutive years between the 2003/04 and 2005/06 seasons and hopes he can bring the experience he learnt in Italy with him to big-spenders City, bankrolled by Abu Dhabi-based billionaire, Sheikh Mansour, who have not won a major trophy since 1976.
"We are excited by the FA Cup," said Mancini. "I know that in England it is a very important competition.
"In Italy, the cup is perhaps not taken so seriously until teams reach the semi-final stages but here it is different.
"I won the Coppa Italia six times as a player and four times as a manager with three different clubs and it would be great to think I could do that at City too.
"But to have a chance to achieve that we have to win at Middlesbrough." City have some serious injury issues at present and will be missing the likes of Joleon Lescott, Wayne Bridge, Nedum Onouha, Roque Santa Cruz and Stephen Ireland when they travel to the Riverside.
Meanwhile, Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast) and Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) will also be absent as they are representing their countries at the African Nations Cup.
It is a far from ideal introduction to the FA Cup for Mancini but he is refusing to be daunted by the length of his injury-list.
"We do not have a very big squad but we do have some young players who have been training with the first team and one or two might have to play," he said.
"We will play our strongest side possible," insisted Mancini, even though a top four finish in the Premier League would appear to be the club's main goal this season.
Middlesbrough manager Gordon Strachan admits his biggest concern is being able to find 11 fit players as his side bids to bridge the huge financial gap between themselves and their cash-rich visitors.
City have won just once in their last 20 trips to Teesside spanning 32 years, which includes an 8-1 humiliation at the Riverside a little over 18 months ago.
But the clubs have been on opposite trajectories since, with Middlesbrough languishing in mid-table in the second-tier Championship after losing their 11-year status as a Premier League club following relegation in May, a demotion that left a 30 million pounds hole in their budget.
Middlesbrough have won just two of the 52-year-old Strachan's 10 games in charge and are well off the pace in their bid to go straight back up.
An injury crisis among his forwards leaves Strachan unable to call on a recognised striker against City, unless he is able to persuade Marcus Bent to return for a second loan spell from Birmingham City in time for Saturday's tie.
"This is a huge game which we want to win because winning makes you feel better," Strachan said.
"My priority now is to find 11 fit players who can look like a team because at this moment in time we officially have no strikers at the club."
Teenage forward Jonathan Franks, 19, is likely to start his first home game for Middlesbrough, with Leroy Lita suspended, Jeremie Aliadiere injured and Dave Kitson having returned to Stoke City following a loan period.
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