Ebbsfleet's players have been warned not to underestimate struggling Hythe Town when they hit the FA Cup trail on Saturday.

The Fleet go into the second qualifying round tie as overwhelming favourites to progress, with 63 league positions separating the Kent clubs.

Hythe are just one place off the bottom of Ryman League Division 1 South, while Ebbsfleet are three points off the top of Vanarama Conference South.

But this is the FA Cup.

Fleet boss Steve Brown said: "We can’t look at it any other way than how we look at league games.

"They’ve got some pace, they’ve got energy, they’ve got enthusiasm and if you don’t get your game right, they’ve got the ability to unpick us.

"They’re two leagues below us and therefore (the perception can be) 'we're at home, we're Ebbsfleet, we're two leagues higher, this had to be 10.' Well, if we approach it like that, they’ll unpick us because they’ve got some dangerous players.

"We’ve got to do all our jobs right, diligently, no-one can take their foot off the gas because I want to get through in the FA Cup."

Brown suggested last week that cup competitions would "take a back seat" this season, with automatic promotion to the Conference his main objective. He toyed with the idea of fielding a youth side against Charlton in the Kent Senior Cup last Wednesday but eventually picked a senior XI for a game the Fleet lost 2-0.

Brown said: "I changed the team last Wednesday night – I wanted to get the result but the Kent Senior Cup was the least important of the three cups.

"With the FA Cup, I want to have a go. I want to replicate the run we had last season and get a tie like we had against Dartford when there were 3,000 people here. I love the romance of the FA Cup.

"I will put out a strong side but it’ll have to do the work and make sure it’s up for the challenge on Saturday."