Zhou Yuelong has been accused of showing Ronnie O'Sullivan too much respect, with Stephen Hendry claiming he must stop calling the Rocket his hero.
Hendry says Zhou must start treating O'Sullivan as just another opponent if he wants to beat him at the snooker table.
O'Sullivan made his competitive return to snooker on Tuesday evening, taking on Zhou in the first round of the Players Championship.
The Chinese player has not beaten the seven-time world champion in any of their previous six meetings in ranking events.
Zhou Yuelong has been accused of showing Ronnie O'Sullivan too much respect
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The pair most recently met at the World Grand Prix last month, while they also faced off in the quarter-final of the UK Championship in December.
O'Sullivan won both tournaments and is looking to win his fifth event of the season in Telford this week.
Ahead of his opening round match, his old rival Hendry had some words of advice for Zhou.
The Scot said the 26-year-old must focus entirely on his own game instead of thinking about who he is playing.
Hendry said on ITV 4: "Another thing, these Chinese players, when they're interviewed about Ronnie they always say 'Ronnie's my hero, Ronnie's my hero, Ronnie's my hero'.
"He's got to get rid of that. Don't show him too much respect.
"Of course, you're going to respect him, he's the greatest player in the game, but you've got to think about your own game and get the match done and stop thinking about him as a hero and [just] as another opponent."
O'Sullivan hasn't played a match since beating Alfie Burden in a World Open qualifier on January 23.
But Hendry was expecting him to pick up where he left off before his break.
He added: "You always expect Ronnie to play well, it doesn't always work out that way.
"What he does, he finds a way of winning. No matter what his opponent does, he finds a way and he has been this season winning four titles.
"Finding something extra that his opponent hasn't got and I expect it again tonight. Big crowd, here to see the Ronnie O'Sullivan show."
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Zhou Yuelong faced Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round of the Players Championship
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O'Sullivan pulled out of both the German Masters and the Welsh Open recently to protect his health and wellbeing.
He still attended the tournament in Wales last week and worked as a pundit for Eurosport.
Ken Doherty believes the break will do O'Sullivan good ahead of a busy period in the coming months.
Doherty said: "He was down at the Welsh, he did a little bit of practice but I didn't see him on the practice table that much.
Ronnie O'Sullivan has returned to action after a month's break
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"Maybe the break, as Judd [Trump] related to, may have done him good.
"He's able to pick and choose, he's won four events in the space of six events, and he's played superbly well.
"You'd be expecting him to start off the way he finished last time but you never know after a little break."