Town boss Kieran McKenna is hoping the Blues will be at home in his first FA Cup tie in charge of the club with the first-round draw taking place this evening.

The Blues will be ball number 25 in the draw, which will be screened on BBC2 from 7.15pm, while it will also be available on @EmiratesFACup on Twitter and the Emirates FA Cup Facebook page.

Suffolk non-league side Needham Market, who are managed by former Town midfielder Kevin Horlock, are also in the hat having beaten Maidstone United 1-0 in fourth round qualifying on Saturday. First round ties will be played over the weekend of November 5th and 6th.

“I think a home draw would be nice,” McKenna said. “I'm looking forward to it, my first FA Cup draw with the club.

“I look forward to tuning in and seeing who we get. Of course, it's nice to get a home draw but whoever we get, we'll take it as it comes.”

Does he see a cup run as a distraction from Town’s promotion push or might it be a confidence builder, as players from the 1991/92 squad have said was the case in their title-winning campaign?

“It's not something that I've thought about that much,” McKenna reflected. “We're so wrapped up in the moment and trying to prepare well for every league game and the FA Cup is still maybe three weeks away. So, I've not given it a lot of thought, to be honest.

“I think we have to focus on game-by-game in the league at the moment. Of course, when we get to that point, it will be something that we look to progress in and it will be nice to progress in the cup, nice for the players and nice for the supporters. But at the moment, it's 100 per cent focus on the league.”

FA Cup First Round Draw
1 Accrington Stanley
2 AFC Wimbledon
3 Barnsley
4 Barrow AFC
5 Bolton Wanderers
6 Bradford City
7 Bristol Rovers
8 Burton Albion
9 Cambridge United
10 Carlisle United
11 Charlton Athletic
12 Cheltenham Town
13 Colchester United
14 Crawley Town
15 Crewe Alexandra
16 Derby County
17 Doncaster Rovers
18 Exeter City
19 Fleetwood Town
20 Forest Green Rovers
21 Gillingham
22 Grimsby Town
23 Harrogate Town
24 Hartlepool United
25 Ipswich Town
26 Leyton Orient
27 Lincoln City
28 Mansfield Town
29 Milton Keynes Dons
30 Morecambe
31 Newport County
32 Northampton Town
33 Oxford United
34 Peterborough United
35 Plymouth Argyle
36 Port Vale
37 Portsmouth
38 Rochdale
39 Salford City
40 Sheffield Wednesday
41 Shrewsbury Town
42 Stevenage
43 Stockport County
44 Sutton United
45 Swindon Town
46 Tranmere Rovers
47 Walsall
48 Wycombe Wanderers
49 Oldham Athletic AFC or Chester
50 Kidderminster Harriers or AFC Fylde
51 King’s Lynn Town
52 York City
53 South Shields
54 Solihull Moors
55 Curzon Ashton
56 Blyth Spartans or Wrexham
57 Altrincham or Gateshead
58 Chesterfield
59 Alvechurch
60 Buxton
61 Coalville Town
62 FC Halifax Town
63 Hereford
64 Torquay United or Hampton & Richmond Borough
65 Yeovil Town or Taunton Town
66 Maidenhead United
67 Eastleigh
68 Ebbsfleet United
69 Woking
70 Dagenham & Redbridge
71 Hendon or Chippenham Town
72 Weymouth
73 Oxford City
74 Bracknell Town
75 Boreham Wood
76 Barnet
77 Needham Market
78 Chelmsford City
79 Merthyr Town
80 Farnborough

Photo: Matchday Images

JackSted added 09:31 - Oct 17 Let's hope it doesn't go to a replay for once. We can only dream
1

Flamencaman added 09:47 - Oct 17 Let's hope it's a home draw against Needham market or Chelmsford, not Torquay or Exeter etc
3

TimmyH added 10:13 - Oct 17 It's that time folks!...don't get your hopes up.
0

johnwarksshorts added 10:14 - Oct 17 Curzon Ashton at home please. Where is that?
0

Merthyrblue added 10:15 - Oct 17 Away to Merthyr Tydfil please!
1

johnwarksshorts added 10:16 - Oct 17 Near Manchester...just googled it.
0

Radlett_blue added 10:29 - Oct 17 What a shame that the stupid FA no longer regionalise the Ist & 2nd rounds of the FA Cup because that would increase the chance of an interesting local derby against the likes of Needham Market or Chelmsford.
-1

mathiemagic added 11:11 - Oct 17 So long as its not No.65 as that will then mean its moved to 12pm K/O and televised !!
0

statto72 added 12:24 - Oct 17 Will be nice to get to the third round as it will potentially give the squad the opportunity to test themselves against higher league opposition.
0

blues1 added 12:28 - Oct 17 Mathiemagic. What makes you think if ifxwas ball 65 it would be televised? Not saying it wouldnt, but I suspect there will be more attractive ties for tv than that 1. Much more likely should we get chesterfield or grimsby mind you.
0

51blue added 14:09 - Oct 17 I would like Lincoln city at home so that we can right the wrong!!
0

wokingblue added 15:11 - Oct 17 Away tie at Woking would be great .............
0

Sefton_Blue added 19:11 - Oct 17 Can see us getting Chesterfield!
0

mathiemagic added 08:22 - Oct 18 @blues1 - It was just a dig at the TV companies really, having moved the Plymouth game and now the Exeter game !
0

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