Hythe manager Tim Dixon insists football, not finance, will be the key motivation when his team enters the FA Trophy on Saturday.

The Cannons will claim £2,500 of valuable prize money if they win their preliminary round tie against Maldon & Tiptree at Reachfields.

But getting through to face one of non-league’s big clubs in a later round is what it’s all about for Dixon.

He said: "This is the true FA Cup of non-league. It is important to us.

"We’ve had a couple of glamour ties already this season – Ebbsfleet in the FA Cup and Margate in the League Cup – and we thoroughly enjoyed both games.

"We’ve got a little bit of form at the moment and if we can carry on that feel-good factor and string a couple of results together, who knows what sort of side we might end up playing?"

Saturday’s clash pits together two of the lowest-ranked clubs in the competition. Hythe are trying to climb away from the foot of Ryman League Division 1 South while Maldon, under new manager Alan Kimble, have made an even worse start in Division 1 North.

Dixon said: "They’re second-bottom, similar to us, but I won’t read too much into that. It’s a funny old league, Ryman North, because a team at the bottom can beat a team at the top.

"They’ve got the ‘new manager syndrome’ and they’ve signed seven new players including Cliff Akurang (who had been playing for Hayes & Yeading in Conference South).

"They’re moulding their own team together and sometimes that takes time. I hope it takes them a few weeks."

Read the full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.