FA Cup fever is sweeping through Hythe after Tim Dixon’s side landed a plumb draw away to Ebbsfleet United in the second qualifying round.

A resounding 4-0 win over Whitstable on Saturday sent Hythe through and Monday’s draw paired them with the Vanarama Conference South title hopefuls from north Kent.

Cannons boss Dixon is relishing the chance to mix it with Steve Brown’s Fleet.

He said: "It’s a great draw. I know a few of their players from when Steve was at Dover.

"They’re experienced and training full-time now. They’ve got Charlie Sheringham up front and he’s scoring goals for them. We’ll have to be at our best – and a little bit more – but you never know.

"They’re going in the right direction. Their chairman’s looking for promotion and Steve’s doing a fantastic job. I just hope they’re not concentrating on the cups this year."

Hythe are one of only two Kent clubs at Step 4 through to the second qualifying round.

Having beaten Lordswood in a preliminary round replay, they’ve now banked £4,925 on this cup run – with another £4,500 up for grabs in the next round.

Dixon said: "The FA Cup is the best competition in the world, bar none. It’s exciting to be part of it and we deserve to be in the draw because we’ve had a couple of tough games already."

Hythe dropped back into the Ryman League Division 1 South relegation zone when they lost 4-1 at Horsham on Tuesday night. Ahead of the Fleet cup tie, they face back-to-back home games against Merstham on Saturday and Walton Casuals on Tuesday.