After a rare home defeat by Harlequins in the LV= Cup, Tigers make an immediate return to action with an international challange against the Qantas Wallabies.
This time last year world champions South Africa were beaten 22-17, and Cockerill admits the current line-up has a lot to live up to.
“It sums up where we are in the world of rugby that we can get this fixture,” said Cockerill.
“We will put out our strongest available side and we're hoping there will be a big crowd and a good atmosphere.
"Australia have brought a very talented squad with them and this tour is obviously important looking ahead to the World Cup.
“We need to get over the disappointment of defeat by Quins and there is no better way to do that than playing here again on Tuesday night against Australia.
"We'll have a crack at them and it should be a great night.”
Tigers conceded three tries in defeat by Quins, and Cockerill pointed to the scores either side of half-time as the key to the result on a rain-affected night at Welford Road.
“We got back to 12-12 but then some silly mistakes cost us,” he said. “It is about field position and not making mistakes in this weather, but we made the mistakes and we spent too much time on our own half of the field, especially in the first half.
“We did keep going, we showed some spirit there in getting the try from the scrum near the end but we should be better than that. You cannot make mistakes against any good side because you will get punished.”
Although disappointed by defeat, Cockerill did have some good news in a return to fitness of Jordan Crane and Dan Hipkiss, while scrum-half Jason Spice made his Tigers debut in the absence of England international Ben Youngs. Cockerill also had words of praise for teenage fly-half George Ford on his first home appearance and Billy Twelvetrees, who played at centre and maintained a perfect kicking record with six penalties from six attempts.
“I thought George did really well and Billy was outstanding,” said Cockerill. “He kicked his goals again, he did some good stuff and he’s improving with every game. We only took Billy off before the end because he will play on Tuesday.”
Tickets for Tigers versus Australia are available now. Phone the Tigers ticket hotline on 0844 856 1880, book online or call in at the ticket office, open until 5pm Saturday, and 8.30am-5pm weekdays.
