All Blacks captain Sam Cane will make his return from injury when the Chiefs take on the Crusaders on Sunday.
A back injury kept Cane out of the Chiefs' first two matches of Super Rugby Aotearoa and coach Warren Gatland said his experience would be a welcome boost.
"It's massive for us," said Gatland. "We don't have a lot of talkers in the team, we have do-ers, but Sam coming in and bringing that leadership voice is huge for us."
The Chiefs lost their first two games and face a daunting visit to Christchurch, where the Crusaders are unbeaten against Super Rugby opposition since 2016.
They have also won 17 of their last 19 games against New Zealand sides, although those two losses have been to the Chiefs.
"We're probably the one team that can stress and put them under pressure," said Gatland.
"The players have a lot of belief that if they do things right they can get it done."
Gatland added that comments from Crusaders and All Blacks prop Joe Moody earlier this week that he felt there was a "deep-seated hatred" between the two sides meant his team needed no additional motivation.
"I see it as a sign of respect," he said.
"The Chiefs have been able to get under their skin and had some victories in the past and they don't like it. I think that's a positive."
Meanwhile, the Crusaders have named an unchanged matchday squad to face the Chiefs. All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor will once again captain the side, following news earlier this week that Scott Barrett has been ruled out of the tournament to have surgery for a toe injury.
Crusaders: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Braydon Ennor, 12 Jack Goodhue, 11 George Bridge, 10 Richie Mo'unga, 9 Bryn Hall, 1 Joe Moody, 2 Codie Taylor (c), 3 Michael Alaalatoa, 4 Samuel Whitelock, 5 Mitchell Dunshea, 6 Cullen Grace, 7 Billy Harmon, 8 Whetu Douglas
Replacements: 16 Brodie McAlister, 17 George Bower, 18 Oliver Jager, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Ethan Blackadder, 21 Mitchell Drummond, 22 David Havili, 23 Leicester Faingaanuku
Chiefs: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Solomon Alaimalo, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Sean Wainui, 10 Aaron Cruden, 9 Brad Weber, 1 Aidan Ross, 2 Bradley Slater, 3 Nepo Laulala, 4 Mitchell Brown, 5 Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 6 Lachlan Boshier, 7 Sam Cane (c), 8 Pita Gus Sowakula
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei'aho, 17 Reuben O'Neill, 18 Ross Geldenhuys, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Mitchell Karpik, 21 Lisati Milo-Harris, 22 Kaleb Trask, 23 Tumua Manu