CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – Players say it all the time – they want to test themselves against the best.

Following last year’s Eastern Conference title, “the best” is a category the New England Revolution fall into entering the 2015 campaign. The Revs, like all teams who find success, have become a measuring stick, and they’re preparing to have a target on their back throughout the upcoming season.

“No one’s going to take us lightly this year, that’s for sure,” said Charlie Davies. “We’re going to get everyone’s ‘A’ game, and that’s what you want as a professional. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

At times last year the Revs embraced the underdog role; a plucky young side with boatloads of talent which overcame a near-devastating midseason slump to rocket up the standings late in the season. There’s no question the national media viewed the LA Galaxy as heavy favorites prior to MLS Cup.

But New England took LA to the brink, forcing extra time and missing out on a first-ever title by mere inches when Teal Bunbury’s audacious chip clipped the underside of the crossbar in the late stages.

In the end, there was no denying it; the Revs are for real.

“People know that maybe we’re not the underdogs. We’re more the favorites,” said Jermaine Jones, whose presence helped lift the Revs to a 12-2-2 run to close the season. “Now [other teams] know they have to be focused against us.

“Maybe we don’t have the names, but we’re still dangerous. We have to be focused for the whole season.”

That focus begins now, in preseason, as the Revs kick off a 12-day stay in Casa Grande, Arizona. The work done on the training field in the next six weeks, although at times tedious, is where the foundation is laid for another successful season.

“It’s important that the veteran guys make sure that we all know we have to continue to work hard,” said Davies. “Nothing’s going to be given to us just because we made it to the final.

“Things aren’t just going to come easy for us. We have to continue to work hard and get better.”