The Suns, who narrowly missed out on the finals of the NSW National Premier League will take on the A-League champion in a FFA Cup round of 16 match at Kogarah Oval.
It's the minnow versus the glamour club in a tie that knockout cup dreams are made of.
FFA Cup Round of 16 - Tuesday 1 September
Rockdale City Suns v Melbourne Victory
Palm Beach Sharks v Western Sydney Wanderers
Metrostars v Oakleigh Cannons
Hume City v Sydney Olympic
Last season, Adelaide City managed a big upset in the FFA Cup, beating Western Sydney Wanderers in the round of 32. But so far in the current competition, an A-League team is yet to come unstuck against an opponent from a lower tier.
Perth Glory, down to 10 men from very early on in the game after goalkeeper Jerrad Tyson was red-carded, needed extra-time to beat Lions FC 1-0 in a round of 16 match last night.
Back in the round of 32, Melbourne City fell behind to Edgeworth Eagles before scoring the winner deep into added time in a 2-1 result.
The competition is currently halfway through the round of 16 stage.
Reid, a 36-year-old veteran of not only the A-League but the old National Soccer League, told The World Game he and his players would go in against Victory with plenty of self-belief.
"You've got to believe you can win a game like this and, to be honest, I go into every game thinking that," Reid said.
"We're playing against the A-League champion, but it's a great opportunity for the players and if you can't get up for games like this then you shouldn't be playing football.
"When I saw the draw I was very excited to be playing against Victory, because you want to be playing against the best teams and I've got full confidence in our squad.
"That was one reason why I took on the player-coach role early in the season. I knew we weren't playing to our capabilities and I actually thought we could have given the NPL title a real shake. If we'd got into the finals we would have caused a few problems for the teams that are in there.
"We've definitely got a team that can cause Victory plenty of problems. Not just from our experienced players, but our youngsters. We've got a lot of enthusiastic players who are quick and fit and can cause any opposition plenty of trouble.
Rockdale would much rather be playing Victory on its home ground at Ilinden Sports Centre than smooth Kogarah, but the lighting wasn't good enough for television coverage.
However, Reid is hoping the bigger venue equates to a bigger crowd than Ilenden could have coped with and, as a result, increased support.
"Not many people like coming to Rockdale's home ground, and especially a team like Victory who are a really good footballing team and like to keep it on the ground and play out from the back," he said.
"It definitely wouldn't have suited them, playing at our home ground. But it does make sense, capacity-wise, to move to Kogarah, because we don't hold that many people at Rockdale.
"The expectation is for over 5000 and I'm hoping we can get around 8000. We're playing the A-League champion. It's the sort of game the Rockdale supporters would never have seen their team play in.
"Hopefully, they all come out and support Rockdale and I'm sure there will be interest from non-Rockdale fans, as well, who want to come out and have a look at the A-league champions. Hopefully, they'll support us."
Rockdale City Suns squad: 1.David BRADASEVIC (gk), 3.Steven HESKETH, 4.Hristijan TANOSKI, 5.Paul REID, 6.Takuya MURAYAMA, 7.Alec UROSEVSKI, 9.Dylan MACALLISTER, 10.Marko JESIC, 12.Idriss EL HAFIANE, 15.Nicholas PETRILLO, 17.Toufic ALAMEDDINE, 18.David DASCAL, 19.Patrick SAVOR, 20.Mitsuhiro IWAMOTO, 22.Ivan NECEVSKI (gk), 24.Nick SORRAS, 29.Isaac SAVOR, 31.Michael LOUPIS, 32.Matteo PANDOLFO, 36.Stefan DUBOCANIN
Melbourne Victory squad: 1.Danny VUKOVIC (gk), 5.Daniel GEORGIEVSKI, 6.Leigh BROXHAM (c), 7.Gui FINKLER, 8.Besart BERISHA, 10.Archie THOMPSON, 14.Fahid BEN KHALFALLAH, 16.Rashid MAHAZI, 17.Matthieu DELPIERRE, 18.Dylan MURNANE, 19.George HOWARD, 20.Lawrence THOMAS (gk), 21.Carl VALERI, 22.Jesse MAKAROUNAS, 23.Keiran DOVER, 24.Thomas DENG
Rockdale won't have played a competition game for 16 days - since the last round of the NPL - when it plays Victory.
The Suns would naturally have preferred to have made the finals, but Reid said that if there was a positive it gave them the opportunity to focus solely on the challenge of playing Victory.
"We're taking the cup very seriously," he said. "We obviously know that we're the underdogs, but we've got a good team and hopefully we can cause Victory a few problems. We're preparing very well at training.
"There will be no excuses from the boys. We've got nothing to lose. I know I'm looking forward to it and I'm sure everyone else in the team is looking forward to it as well.
Reid said he would be emphasising to this players that they should enjoy the occasion.
"We're not going to change many things in terms of our approach to the game," he said. "We'll stick to a similar style to what we always play.
"I'm just going to say to the players, 'look, you've got nothing to lose, it's a one-off game and I've played in games like this before and if we go out there with no fear then it's still 11 v 11 and if we play to our capacity then we'll definitely give Victory a decent game'.
"If you enjoy playing, then you play at your best, and that's what I've said to the team this season - go out there and don't put too much pressure on yourself, enjoy it and believe in your own ability and the rewards will come at the end.
