Tonbridge are looking to reach the FA Cup second round for the first time in their history this weekend.

Angels will be backed by a big home crowd when they take on Southern League Harborough at Longmead on Saturday (3pm), with more than 2,000 tickets sold.

It’s their seventh appearance in the first round proper, most recently losing 7-0 to League 2 giants Bradford in 2020, a tie played behind closed doors during the Covid pandemic.

On paper they have a good chance to progress, being drawn at home to a team who are 16th in the league below.

But the visitors are a strong outfit and Tonbridge will need to be on their game to progress and secure the £45,000 prize money.

“It’s a tricky one when the draw is made because you either get a big club, with a chance of being on TV, or you get a team like we have at home with an opportunity of going through,” said Tonbridge manager Jay Saunders.

“I went to watch Harborough play Stourbridge and they’re a good side.

“They’re a very big, physical side, but they’re a good side, so it’s not going to be easy but it’s a winnable game.

“We’re at home and we’ve got an opportunity to make history because, as everyone tells me, the club have never reached the second round before.”

Tonbridge beat three lower-league teams in the qualifying rounds - Merstham, Walton & Hersham and Cray Wanderers - to reach this stage.

They treated each of those sides with respect and it will be no different against Harborough.

Saunders added: “They’ve got a lot of ex-pros, they’ve had a few promotions, so they’re a club on the rise and we know it won’t be an easy game but we’re looking forward to it.

“There’s ways to get at them and I’m sure they’ve looked at us and will be thinking the same.

“We’ve got to be prepared and we are. We’ve done our homework.

“I drove up to watch them and I know a few managers in their league, so we’ve been able to get quite a bit on them.

“All games are winnable, we’ve just got to take advantage of being at home, with our crowd behind us.

“The club said on Monday they’d sold well over 2,000 tickets, and I think Harborough are bringing three or four coachloads, so it will be a good atmosphere.

“Being at home is a big thing because their home record is a lot better than their away record, like ourselves.

“It’ll be interesting but form goes out of the window, it’s whoever turns up on the day.

“I look at the players and, whatever their motivation, they’re desperate to get through.

“It might be that carrot of drawing a big team and being on TV but we’ve been really good this year at just focusing on the game and not getting caught up in anything else and we have to keep it that way.”

Matt Rowley will be in goal after Championship club Portsmouth recalled Toby Steward from his season-long loan to cover for injuries.

Rowley has joined on an initial one-month loan from League 1 Reading and made his debut in Angels’ 2-1 National League South defeat at Truro last weekend.

Steward made his final appearance in the 1-0 win over Dorking on Tuesday last week before being named on the bench for Pompey’s 2-1 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday on Friday.

FA rules dictate he cannot be loaned back to Angels in the same season.

“Everyone was buzzing after the Dorking game, then I had a call at 8am on Wednesday and as soon as I saw the number come up, I knew what it was going to be,” said Saunders.

“What can you do? He’s Portsmouth’s player. It’s easy to get caught up in it and be down about it but when you take these lads on loan, you have to accept that might happen.

“Portsmouth said when we took him they wouldn’t call him back unless they had to and unfortunately the first-choice keeper had concussion and the second choice has done his knee.

“The downside is once a player gets recalled by a league club, you can’t take them back, which is a silly rule.

“It’s frustrating because Toby did well for us but Matt’s a good signing and someone we’d spoken about previously.

“We saw him on loan at Dover, and liked him, and he had a really good debut at Truro.

“He met the boys for the first time when he got on the coach at Reading, which is never easy, and off he went.

“We’ve done the month initially to make sure he’s happy with everything and then we’ll see how it goes from there.”

Noel Leighton cancelled out Truro’s opener last weekend but the hosts scored an injury-time winner.