The Hawks are on a six-match winning streak, all against finalists from last year, including a comfortable 37-point victory over reigning premiers the Sydney Swans last round.
That suggests they should make very easy work of the winless Giants, who haven't gone closer than a five-goal margin against any opponent this season.
But Clarkson said the Hawks would treat the Giants the same as their previous opponents.
He angrily dismissed a question about whether Hawthorn would set themselves a winning margin target.
"You're asking some foolish questions and I don't even want to respond to it," he told AFL.com.au's Matt Thompson at Melbourne Airport on Friday.
He admitted it would be a struggle to attract a big crowd.
"It's a bit tougher when you play sides that haven't got history in the competition," Clarkson said.
Key defender Josh Gibson will miss the match with an ankle injury, opening the way for former Swans backman Matt Spangher to make his Hawks debut.
Clarkson confirmed Gibson sustained the injury in an incident involving Swans star Adam Goodes, for which Goodes was cleared of sliding by the Match Review Panel.
The incident prompted Hawks great Dermott Brereton to accuse Goodes of having a penchant of going legs-first into contests rather than putting his head and body over the ball.
Clarkson said the injury wasn't severe.
"We'll just make sure he gets it right this week and hopefully gets back into it next week," he said.
Clarkson said forward Jarryd Roughead could spend more time as a midfielder, a tactic used to great effect against the Swans, when he frequently lined up at centre bounces and combined 27 disposals with four goals.
The Hawks coach said that tactic had been largely about countering Sydney's big-bodied midfielders.
"Whether we do it on a consistent basis, we'll just have to wait and see," he said.
"But it worked OK for us last week so we'll continue to explore it."
