Maidstone manager George Elokobi has told his players to go out and enjoy their FA Cup tie against Barrow.

The teams meet in a Second-Round match at the Gallagher Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

Forty-seven places separate the sides with United second in National League South and Barrow third in League 2.

They were in the same division as recently as the 2018/19 National League season - the Stones winning 1-0 at home and losing 1-0 away - but the Cumbrians are favourites this weekend.

Elokobi has urged his players to be themselves as they go in search of an upset - and enjoy the occasion.

“We need to be Maidstone,” he said. “It’s important we operate from our philosophies, our principles.

“We don’t need to change. We need to go out there and enjoy the occasion.

“Play the game and enjoy being out on this pitch, hopefully in front of a packed house on Saturday.

“That’s the most important thing - enjoy playing against league players. That’s what it’s all about. Be bold and do it as a group.

“We don’t need to do it individually, we need to do it collectively as a group and if we do that I’ll be proud of them.”

It’s 35 years since Maidstone last played in the Third Round.

They’d dearly love to get there again but there’s no added pressure as far as Elokobi is concerned.

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“It’s all about being in the game,” he said. “For 90-100 minutes it’s about doing the right things, making sure we get the basics right.

“We have to do that to earn any sort of foothold in the game.

“It’s important we don't look too far ahead in terms of the outcome.

“The performance will tell us what the outcome is going to be.

“Barrow are coming here and they want to progress, so it’s going to be a tough game for us.

“We have to roll our sleeves up, be resilient, dig deep but we have to make sure we enjoy the hard work because it’s all about working hard on the day.

“Whether it’s training or playing in games we have to make sure we enjoy working hard for each other and I’m sure our players will do that for us.”

Barrow are top of the League 2 form guide after five successive wins and on Tuesday night they beat Walsall 2-0 at home.

Elokobi knows the scale of the task facing his side.

“Barrow are very good,” he said.

“We know they are tough opposition and they are doing ever so well in League 2.

“It doesn’t matter which personnel they put out, they’ve got quality throughout the squad and they’ve got a good management team behind them.

“It’s going to be a mouthwatering tie for us to test ourselves against a Football League club who are right up there in League 2. Our players are looking forward to it.”