Sydney overcame the disappointment of losing their A-League title in February by overcoming Shanghai Shenhua 2-1 a fortnight ago thanks to strikes by Stephen Corica and Ufuk Talay.

However, Branko Culina's side are well aware of the daunting challenge they face tonight when the winners of last season's J.League and Emperor's Cup visit Aussie Stadium.

"They're a very difficult side and we have to make the most of the home ground advantage and make the most of the home crowd," said Sydney defender Mark Milligan.

"I know they have something like 14 internationals in their squad and have a few Brazilians in their line-up including Washington upfront, who was their leading goal-scorer last year, so they are going to be tough all over the park.

"They are quality and it is going to take our whole team to get on top of them on Wednesday night - we need to shut them down and get them with their heads down and playing where they don't want to play."

The A-League season may be over for Sydney but Culina was able to put his side through their paces last week with a 3-2 win against Wollongong Wolves in a warm-up game.

The team's injury concerns have eased somewhat and they will be boosted by the return of midfielders Terry McFlynn and Ruben Zadkovich, who missed out on the trip to Shanghai.

A big crowd is expected at Aussie Stadium for the visit of Urawa, who arrived in Sydney on Monday fresh off a 2-0 victory against Ventforet Kofu in the J.League during the weekend.

Having seen his side trounce Indonesian league champions Persik Kediri 3-0 two weeks ago, Urawa's German manager Holger Osieck is hoping for another solid display by his side in Australia.

"It's going to be very tough because we've had to travel a long way and there are a lot of inconveniences related to that," said Osieck, whose team trained for an hour at Sydney University on Monday following their early arrival.

Urawa have to adapt quickly to conditions after leaving behind chilly temperatures in Japan for much balmier weather in Sydney, but Osieck does not see that as a problem.

"Some of our players prefer the heat than the cold. I hope we will be in a good shape. The victory on Saturday will give us a good boost and we will be playing with plenty of self-confidence."

With midfielder Makoto Hasebe returning as a substitute against Kofu after recovering from a knee problem, Urawa have no major injury concerns.

The J.League outfit are no strangers to Sydney, having held their pre-season training camp in the Australian city, and they are expecting to have the vocal backing of about 2,000 fans, who have travelled all the way from Japan to back Urawa down under.