Boss Austin eyes FA Cup progress as Harborough Town are handed Tonbridge trip in first round

MItch Austin and his staff and players celebrate at the final whistle following Saturday's 1-0 FA Cup win over Bury FC (Picture: Phil Passingham)

Boss Mitch Austin believes Harborough Town's FA Cup first round trip to fellow non-League outfit Tonbridge Angels is 'a winnable tie'.

The Bees were hoping to land one of the EFL big guns in Monday night's draw, after reaching this stage of the competition for the first time in the club's history thanks to Saturday's 1-0 over Bury FC.

Instead they have been handed an away day at Vanarama National League South outfit Tonbridge, who play at the level above Harborough, with the match scheduled to be played on Saturday, November 2.

It was perhaps something of an anti-climax for the club's players and supporters, but Austin was his usual positive self as he spoke after the draw to to Mark Chapman on BBC Radio Five Live's Monday Night Club.

"It is a great achievement just to get to the first round anyway," said the Bees boss.

"I think the remaining teams were something like Birmingham, Peterborough, and we both probably thought, ugh, we could have had one of them glamorous ties against bigger clubs.

"But we will look forward to it, and it will be a good day for us.

"We will certainly be the underdogs due to being the level below, and I think the pressure will certainly be on them.

"Their advantage will be we have to go their ground, it would have been superb if we had them at ours because we are quite good here.

"But it is the FA Cup, and I think it is a winnable tie for both of us.

"Naturally, we will go in there confident. It is not a Birmingham where you are going into it know you probably won't get anything out of it, so who knows?

"We could see Harborough Town in the next round.”

And looking back on Saturday, he added: "It was amazing. As a kid growing up I wasn't the best football player, so got into coaching, got into managing.

"You always watch the FA Cup draw, you always see non-League teams in there and with us being a part of that it makes me proud, and something of a dream come true.

"Let's see if we can go one step further."

Ben Stephens was the Harborough goal hero on Saturday, stepping up to score a 77th-minute penalty to see off Step 5 side Bury in front of a crowd of almost 2,000 at the Bee Hive.

The victory sparked huge celebrations, but Austin and his players quickly had to get back down to earth as they are back in Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central action on Tuesday night at Stourbridge.