GRAVESEND & Northfleet manager Andy Ford believes his side can overcome the odds despite being handed a tough FA Cup draw on Monday.

The Fleet will travel to big-spending Hornchurch in the fourth qualifying round on Saturday, October 30 - the tie every club in the draw wanted to avoid.

Although they are in Conference South, Garry Hill’s Hornchurch are already full-time and boast a number of players from the Football League.

But Ford believes that the Fleet can repeat last season’s heroics in the FA Cup. “I think Carlisle or Hornchurch away were the two ties that everyone wanted to avoid,” admitted Ford. “Having said that it will be a cracking cup tie.

“We are the underdogs as we were last year against Chester and Exeter. “We are probably feeling the same now as we were when those draws were made.”