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But instead of complaining about the tough nature of their path to the knockout stages, Ospreys head coach Sean Holley is taking a far more positive approach.
Holley's men were crowned Magners League Champions last season and have made the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup in each of the previous three years. And while their Pool 3 opposition may have healthy reputations of their own, Holley believes that the Ospreys themselves are a side most teams would have wanted to avoid.
"It is going to be a ding-dong group," said Holley of yet another mouth-watering pool.
"But we knew we were going to be in a tough pool and we have some old foes there with Munster, new blood with Toulon and with London Irish top of the Premiership at the moment. We're in for a really tough ride.
"But those three teams will be saying the same about the Ospreys. They wouldn't have liked to have us in the pool so that gives us some confidence as does the way we have performed over the last year or so.
"Even though it is a tough group we have to back ourselves. There's a lot of belief in the squad we've won some big games on the road, we're very difficult to beat at the Liberty Stadium, we're used to big matches and we've stood up well, so I think we will be serious contenders in the pool and from there anyone can win it."
The Ospreys travel to the Cote D'Azur on Saturday, October 10 to face Toulon in their first Heineken Cup match since their agonizing quarter-final defeat to Biarritz last April.
They then follow that Round 1 clash with a home tie against London Irish before a double header against Munster in December that Holley believes could decide the outcome of the pool.
"Toulon are star-studded, they have a huge budget and they have Jonny Wilkinson," added Holley.
"But the pressure is on the home side. Our performance down in Biarritz last April has given us a lot of belief and they will be wary of what we will bring. It should make for a great first game.
"We play Munster every year in the Magners and, as far as we are concerned, the back-to-back games with them could be where the pool is decided.
"We were a bit undercooked when we lost to them this month. We probably learnt a bit more when we beat them at the end of last season out in Thomond Park.
"We've had three quarter-finals in a row, but we are yet to have a home one, but looking at the pool our main aim is to just get out of it.
"But we can't get too far ahead of ourselves, we have to get as much as we can out of the first two games. We have to concentrate on us and do the best we can."
