David Hopkin has warned his Ayr players they face an evening of graft as fans return to Somerset Park tonight.
United bid to get their Premier Sports Cup campaign back on track at home to Edinburgh City.
And Hopkin is hoping his injury-hit squad can dig deep with the backing of supporters on home turf for the first time in 16 months.
Ayr drew a blank at Albion Rovers before going down on penalties in the Group E opener on Saturday.
And Hopkin believes fellow League Two side City will pose an equally tricky test.
He told the Ayrshire Post: "There are no easy games in this competition as proven by the first round of games.
"You only have to look at Dundee United being given a right good game at Kelty to see that.
"Everyone is still getting up to speed at this stage and working hard on the results coming."
Somerset will play host to a crowd of 500 with fans gaining entry for the first time since the Covid lockdown.
And Hopkin believes that could provide a key boost to his players as they bid to recover from Saturday's stumbling start.
He said: "Hopefully it makes a real difference to the players.
"It's something that has definitely been missed over the last year and players feed off it.
"We were disappointed not to win on Saturday as we created chances in the first half which we should have taken and put the game to bed.
"But hopefully we can take those chances when they come tonight."
Ayr are likely to be short on numbers again with Nick McAllister (knee) and Markus Fjortoft (shoulder) out.
Joe Chalmers is struggling with a thigh strain, while Michael Moffat is in Covid isolation.
To view the game online via Ayr's live stream for £10, visit https://ayrunitedfc.co.uk/live-streaming
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