MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Fourth-seed Memphis will face rival fifth-seed Louisville in the first round of the USL Championship playoffs Saturday.

901 FC has a lot of respect for their opponent as Memphis is aware Lou City is fighting to keep their 8-straight semifinals alive.

“They come here having been in the conference finals and I hope their run of final appearance, will end at some point and hopefully ends Saturday night,” said club manager Stephen Glass.

Though the playoffs are back in Memphis for a second consecutive year, for first-year manager Stephen Glass anything short of having home-field advantage would’ve been unacceptable.

“It was expected to be perfectly honest, I think if I’m standing here, and we’re finished like some other clubs are at the moment, that’s a huge disappointment,” said Glass. “I think we’ve probably got what he deserved throughout the games.”

Home-field advantage was crucial for Memphis, as they have a plus-six goal differential when playing on the pitch at AutoZone Park.

“The fight was for the home field, and we did enough to get that home field,” said Memphis defender Carson Vom Steeg. “So we have to take advantage, it’s a long bus ride for them. So we’ll take our rest and preparation.”

Despite Memphis finishing the final six matches with a 3-2-1 record there’s a confidence throughout the locker room that the season is far from over.

“It’s just normal, no pressure and we always say in Brazil, like especially if we have to get out of the house to get food for our family, we have always been doing this, so it’s normal for us,” said Memphis forward Luiz Fernando.

Memphis and Louisville square off at 5:30 p.m. at AutoZone Park.