Salford's former Warrington half-back Gareth O'Brien has the utmost respect for his old club but that will not stop him doing his best to inflict on them a first Super League defeat of the season.
The 24-year-old came through the Wolves academy and scored 19 tries and 78 goals in 62 appearances for them before opting out of the final year of his contract at the end of last season.
O'Brien moved to the new-look Red Devils on a two-year deal and, after playing a key role in their promising start to the season, will be aiming to undo his old team-mates with aid of some inside information when they put their 100 per cent record on the line at the AJ Bell Stadium on Thursday night.
"I have a huge respect for the Warrington club - they've made me the player I am today - and I'll definitely take that respect into the game but I'm going to give my all for my new club," he said. "I know the boys at Warrington pretty well and anything I can share with our lads to maybe tip them up on certain aspects of their game is only going to help our chances.
"It's all about preparing for a game and if you've got inside knowledge on your opponents, you're going to share it with your team-mates."
O'Brien, who had loan spells at St Helens, Castleford and Widnes during his time at the Wolves, says there were no hard feelings when he agreed with head coach Tony Smith to part company. "I did have a year left on my contract and I could have stayed but we both thought moving on would do me the world of good," he said.
"It was all done in a professional manner. Me and Tony had a chat and there were no hard feelings. It was about what was best for me. "He said my opportunities at Warrington this year would probably be limited and he felt that's not what I needed at this stage of my career. Playing each week is what I needed to do to improve. He gave me an opportunity to look for a new club and I'm happy with the move."
After spending virtually his whole career in the half-backs, O'Brien is enjoying a new lease of life at full-back for the resurgent Red Devils. "It gives me the freedom I don't really get as a half and I'm enjoying it," he said. I'm still learning the position obviously but the more I play there the better I'll be.
"I played a bit of full-back in the academy but it's very similar to a half now. Full-backs nowadays have got to be able to run, pass, kick and they're probably the strengths of my game. I need to work on my defence but I am enjoying the new role."
Warrington assistant coach Richard Agar admits their former player will be one of the threats to their unbeaten record. "Salford have obviously seen Gareth in a slightly different role to the one he played here and you'd have to say so far he's grabbed it with both hands," Agar said.
"Gaz has got good vision and good skill and he's been a very prominent player for them. We've talked about him in our preview, about what a good job he's doing for them at full-back. He's doing a terrific job for them."
Warrington have won their last seven meetings with Salford but O'Brien believes the tide is turning. "We set a goal at the start of the season to make our home stadium a bit of a fortress and we're unbeaten at home," he said. "We know the dangers Warrington have and we've got to be on our game defensively. If we're good defensively, we can cause any team problems when we've got the ball in our hands."
Salford: Justin Carney, Michael Dobson, Niall Evalds, Mark Flanagan, George Griffin, Josh Griffin, Greg Johnson, Josh Jones, Craig Kopczak, Ryan Lannon, Tommy Lee, Rob Lui, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Gareth O'Brien, Matt Sarsfield, Junior Sa'u, Logan Tomkins, Adam Walne, Jordan Walne.
Warrington: Ryan Atkins, Jordan Cox, Ben Currie, Mitchell Dodds, Brad Dwyer, Rhys Evans, Chris Hill, Jack Hughes, Benjamin Jullien, George King, Tom Lineham, Kevin Penny, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Matty Russell, Chris Sandow, Ashton Sims, Joe Westerman, Gary Wheeler.