Forget about injury management, the Chiefs believe the key to beating the Blues in their Super Rugby derby is to be more clinical.
The limping visitors will take a no-excuse approach into Friday's match at Eden Park featuring two teams seeking to avoid twin losses to start their season.
Both fell short in the South Island last weekend - the Blues beaten 41-34 by the Highlanders before the Chiefs conceded late tries in a 45-23 lesson from defending champions the Crusaders.
Assistant coach Neil Barnes believes that score was unflattering and doesn't want to alter much.
"I thought the guys played well last week, as we were right in that game until the death. If we had taken our chances before that it could have been a different result," Barnes said.
"We reviewed the game and we're happy with some of the performances hence we've rolled out a very similar group."
There could have been more changes but two players have been cleared of concussion symptoms - starting wing Sean Wainui and benched loose forward Mitchell Brown.
The injury list is still in double figures, with two All Blacks - fullback Charlie Ngatai (knee) and lock Dominic Bird (shoulder) - scrubbed out from last week's side while Test prop Kane Hames remains out with illness.
Taranaki winger Declan O'Donnell has joined the squad to replace Tim Nanai-Williams after the Samoan international suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
"At the end of the day the strength of the team goes back to the 36th player you've got, and at the moment we're using everybody," Barnes said.
"You don't pick people you don't trust, and we're quietly confident the boys coming in are going to do the job for us."
Barnes is predicting a physical battle against a Blues forward pack which held sway when the teams met in a pre-season fixture in Te Kuiti.
