Marcus Hahnemann today admitted it is "pretty special" to have been handed the coveted number one goalkeeping shirt for the new season.
But Wolves' American gloveman believes it will count for little in the hotly-contested battle for the spot between the posts with Wayne Hennessey and Carl Ikeme.
In the same way as he did two years ago - when Hennessey took the shirt from Matt Murray - boss Mick McCarthy has handed the number one to the keeper who finished the previous season as first choice.
That was Hahnemann, leaving him delighted to have swopped last season's number 13 but conscious of the fight on his hands to keep off the challenges of his young and ambitious colleagues.
"I had the number one shirt at Reading and it's pretty special for me to get it here," he said.
"The gaffer told me I'd earned that spot and asked if I wanted the shirt.
"There was a bit of confusion when I went out in 13 for the Bilbao game so the gaffer asked me again if I wanted it and I said that I do!
"Whatever the number on my back though I know I've got a fight for the number one spot.
"I've earned the shirt from last year but it doesn't mean I'm going to play.
"It's like last year, Wayne had earned the number one shirt from the season before but later on I came in and was ready when I needed to be.
"You see Carl out there in training looking very good and we know what Wayne can do as well and he's looking better and better.
"All these guys are so young and improving all the time so I know I've got a battle on my hands."
By his own admission it has been a tough pre-season for the 38-year-old, truncated as it was by his World Cup duties as cover for Tim Howard for the USA in South Africa.
After a much-needed three weeks break, there was some understandable ring-rustiness upon his return, as well as a slight hamstring problem, but Hahnemann is now raring to go with the big kick-off just around the corner.
"I think I'm going into my 12th season in England now and it's always exciting," he said.
"It never loses any of its appeal.
"I'm pleased that the games are starting to come now because the training is always the hard part.
"Once the games start you see the benefit of all the work that you've put in and it becomes a lot easier.
"And that's from me only having half a pre-season because of the World Cup.
"It was hard coming in when I did.
"I hadn't really caught any balls for 20 days and then I came in and the other guys were flying!
"The shots were flying in and everything was sticking with Carl and Wayne and for me it was like, "I can't even see that yet!"
"I tweaked my hamstring and missed the Reading game which I'd been really looking forward to so that was disappointing.
"It didn't work out there but the really important one now is Stoke on Saturday and I'm looking forward to getting things underway."
If selected on Saturday, it promises to be a tough baptism to the latest season of Hahnemann's successful career on this side of the Pond.
Stoke have had great success in balancing their footballing quality with putting teams under pressure notably through the long throws of Rory Delap.
It promises to be a busy afternoon.
"A lot comes into the box from Stoke and they're a team who play to a system and do it well," added Hahnemann.
"They've got a team where it seems they are all like 6ft 5in and above and are certainly one of the biggest teams in the Premier League.
"They play to their strengths just as we try and do and when we've got Halford on the pitch he throws it into the box because those balls can be so dangerous.
"We've got a good team who are solid defensively and managed to cope with it last season.
"We'll just have to see how we do this time around."
And Stoke have certainly set the pace for teams who get promoted to the Championship in terms of trying to survive in the Barclays Premier League.
Finishes of 12th and 11th in successive seasons have set a benchmark from which the likes of Wolves would be glad to follow.
In Hahnemann's case, and indeed Wolves team-mates Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt, it's also about avoiding the dreaded 'Second Season Syndrome' suffered when the trio were together at Reading.
"Every point is so vital and we ended up going down on goal difference in that second year at Reading," he recalls.
"We have to be right at it here from the start.
"Last year it was a really steep learning curve and we probably didn't get as many points as we should in a lot of games when we played well but came away with nothing.
"We just didn't quite have it in certain games but we've got that experience now.
"We're a young team - everyone seems to be under 23! - and all those guys have that experience now which they didn't have last year.
"It should really help them and us as a team tremendously this year and will start from the first game."
