Crusaders drew first blood earlier this week but Declan Caddell knows from experience never to write Linfield off.
The Blues travel to Seaview today for a Sports Direct Premiership showdown with much at stake for both teams.
While Ballymena United are the surprise leaders at the top of the table, Crusaders, Linfield and Larne can all overtake the Sky Blues if they win their games in hand.
However, Linfield have been hit by a string of injuries in recent weeks and have lost their last two games, against Glentoran in the league and Crusaders in the Co Antrim Shield.
As a player, the teak-tough former midfielder, crossed swords with the Blues over many years and experienced the highs and lows of trophy dogfights with the South Belfast club.
When he made his debut for the Crues in 2007 Linfield were in their prime and he believes they are still the benchmark for local teams today.
“When I came through as a young player at Crusaders, Linfield were the pinnacle”, said Caddell, who succeeded Stephen Baxter in the summer.
“They were winning league after league after league every single year, nobody could get near them in those years.
“here was probably a different dynamic because we had just come up from the Championship the year before and we were probably looked at as a bottom of the league team.
“Stevie (Baxter) was only in the job a couple of years, he was trying to build something and he did that year upon year.
“Then we saw a slight change. Cliftonville came to the fore and won it two years in a row with that combination of Liam Boyce and Joe Gormley up top and Jonty and Catney in the middle, they had a great side.
“We were always finishing second or third by that stage, then we kind of took over.
“We won the league three out of four years and slipped up against Linfield in that third year so it’s been a wee bit up and down.
“I always loved the games because you were always going up against the best players in the league.
“You look back to the days of Jamie Mulgrew, Michael Gault, Paul McAreavey and others, and Mulgrew is still playing.
“I remember the 2011 Irish Cup Final against Linfield. I scored the first goal in that final, then Jamie came on and changed the game.
“Linfield scored twice in the last ten or fifteen minutes and that was a hard one to take.
“It was devastating but at the same time it was character building.
“You learn from it and do everything in your power not to let it happen again.
“They were enjoyable games and I believe you should always play for as long as you can, because you will miss those days
“I was in the dugout for the game against Linfield on Tuesday night and you miss a game like that.
“You miss the atmosphere and going toe to toe with rival players.
“Linfield as a club, with their fans, their ground, their history, they’re always going to be there or thereabouts, for me they’re always the pinnacle but you always want to test yourself against the best.”
Blues manager David Healy believes today’s encounter will be a different affair to Tuesday night’s game and hinted that the Linfield support will be an asset to the visitors today.
By Linfield’s standards there was a low turnout for the Shield quarter-final but a much more vocal support is expected today to make the Belfast derby a firecracker of a fixture.
“Is it going to be different today? 100 per cent”, said Healy about Tuesday night’s 3-2 defeat.
“I think the tone of the ground will be different, I think the atmosphere will be a little bit different and we can probably expect some similarities.
“We’ve had a good look at Kieran Offord, we’ve seen him a few times this year, Harry Franklin, the young boy (Josh) Williamson, Jacob Blaney coming in at right back.
“Tuesday night gave us a look at those type of players to make sure that we’re – hopefully – finding some opportunities to score this afternoon.”
