Eid Baroot is aiming to make it third time lucky after his two previous spells as a caretaker coach in the Pro League failed to result in a full-time job offer.
The Emirati has been given that task again to revive Al Nasr's hopes after the Dubai club fired Helio dos Anjos, the Brazilian, following the 2-1 defeat to Baniyas in their Etisalat Cup opener last Sunday.
Baroot helped Al Dhafra escape relegation in 2008/09 before leading Emirates to an historic President's Cup triumph last season.
Strangely though, he was not retained by either of those two clubs. But his good work did not go unnoticed and the Football Association (FA) employed him as the junior national team coach.
Baroot had instant success by leading the national team juniors to the Under 17 Gulf Cup title in Kuwait last month, and he has been granted permission to take the caretaker job with the Dubai club for an initial three months, starting with their visit to Al Wahda tonight (KO 8pm) .
"First of all, I am thankful to the Al Nasr management for the trust they have on me and the FA for providing me with the opportunity to return to the Pro League. I am ready for the challenge," Baroot said.
"I don't have any magic formula to have success with any team that I take charge of but I believe in hard work and most importantly to get the best out of the players.
"The agreement I have with the club is for three months, which is until the end of the first round of league matches, and my target will be to take Nasr into the first four in the table during this period."
Baroot did not want to dwell on the past, but was looking forward to working with a new set of players.
"I had only five days to prepare the team for the Wahda game, but I am happy with the way the players have responded to the change and their willingness to work for the success of the team."
Baroot has been thrown in to the deep end straight away as his first game in charge is against the Pro League champions at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
"Wahda indeed is a big away game and the intention is always to win, which will be our approach in any game," he said.
The league is only five games old, so I have got a better deal to work them into a good position than my two previous jobs as caretaker coach."
Nasr are third from bottom in the Pro League, with six points from five games, and have not won a trophy for more than 22 years; their most recent success was in the President's Cup in 1988/89.
"They have a decent squad with some very good players, and if they can play true to their potential, they can achieve better results," Baroot added.
"Obviously my task is to get them mentally prepared and to get the best out of them."
In tonight's other match, David O'Leary's Al Ahli have a fine chance to make up ground on the league leaders. Ahli, who are seventh in the table, host bottom club Dubai (KO 5.10pm) in what looks likely to be a straightforward victory.