Conference South side Chelmsford City stand between Barnet and the FA Cup first round proper and the Clarets, who are 12th in the division below the Bees, will be keen to cause an upset in the world’s oldest knockout competition.

Chelmsford’s best run in the FA Cup saw them reach the fourth round proper in 1938/39, whereupon they were knocked out by Birmingham City.

Mark Hawkes’ side reached the final qualifying round by overcoming Conference South rivals Whitehawk in a replay 4-1, the initial tie two days earlier having ended 4-4. Isthmian Division One South outfit Worthing were duly dispatched 6-0 in the second qualifying round.

Sat in the middle of the Conference South table after 12 games, a slow start has given way to an improved run of form, with the Essex side picking up 12 points from a possible 18 in their last six, but with FA Cup replays and the Essex Senior Cup to contend with too, league games have been interspersed between a number of knock-out matches of late.

A penalty shoot-out win over Barking (0-0 AET) on Tuesday allowed Hawkes to rotate his side, with only a few players who have been regulars in the league given a run-out against the Essex Senior League side.

Among those in the Clarets squad are a pair of former Bees: skipper Mark Hughes and left-back Nicky Nicolau.

Hughes, now 31, left the Bees in 2012 after making 145 appearances and scoring nine times for the club – the most memorable of which being the winner in Barnet’s 2-1 final-day victory at Burton Albion in 2012 to avoid relegation to the Conference.

The Ulsterman put Martin Allen’s side back in front after Jacques Maghoma had cancelled out Mark Byrne’s sixth-minute opener, and the Bees held on to claim the all-important three points and retain their status as a Football League club for another 12 months.

After leaving Underhill, Hughes spent a year with ambitious Eastleigh, before moving to the Melbourne Stadium last summer, where he has since established himself as a regular in the heart of midfield.

Cypriot left-back Nicolau also spent three years with the Bees, between 2006 and 2009, making 96 appearances and netting four times before falling out of favour and moving to Woking.

The St Pancras-born defender joined the club from Swindon Town, having begun his career at Premier League giant Arsenal. A member of the Gunners’ FA Youth Cup winning side of 2001, Nicolau represent Cyprus at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level.

Barnet and Chelmsford have only ever met in the FA Cup previously, with a 2-2 draw at Underhill in November 1990 forcing a replay at Chelmsford three days later, with Barry Fry’s side winning 2-0 at the second attempt.

Predicted Chelmsford City XI: Thompson; Love, Ekpiteta, Mambo, Redwood; Ward, Sawyer, Hughes (c), Smith, Gordon; Cheek.