Steve Brown is dreaming of drawing a Football League giant in the first round proper as Ebbsfleet resume their FA Cup run this weekend.

Fleet are at home to Vanarama Conference South rivals Basingstoke in the third qualifying round on Saturday, knowing victory would leave them 90 minutes from a potential clash with Sheffield United, Coventry or Portsmouth.

The tie is too close to call, with Basingstoke sitting top of the table and Ebbsfleet four points back in fourth – but sitting on a superb home record.

Brown said: "I expect them to be hard to beat. They’ll come here and won’t want to lose. But it’s a home tie and I always fancy us at home.

"It’s about the romance of the cup. You want to get into the first round proper – it’s something I haven’t done as a coach or a manager at any club.

"I want to get through to the next round.

"It’ll be the fourth qualifying round if we get through. That’s where we got last year, we got a brilliant tie against Dartford and it was a brilliant day.

"I do like the romance of the cup. Is it more important than the league? Absolutely not, because we’re not going to win that competition. But wouldn’t it be nice to pull a League club out in the first round proper?"

Dean Pooley can't play on Saturday because he's cup-tied, while the game will come too soon for injured due Lloyd Harrington and Alex Osborn.