If Stevenage improve on their performance from yesterday and beat Horsham at Woodside Road on Wednesday evening then their reward in the First Round of the FA Cup will be a trip to play Leicester City at the Walkers Stadium. Both Leeds and Leicester were the prize draws in the first round draw which was made this lunchtime by ex Arsenal defender Martin Keown and former Tottenham player and manager Ossie Ardiles.

Leicester, now managed by Nigel Pearson, have had a good start to life in League 1 after being relegated on the final day of last season. They currently sit 4th in the table behind table toppers Scunthorpe, Leeds and Millwall. After topping the table early on, the Foxes are now having a dodgy spell and have drawn their last 3 games, including yesterday’s 0-0 at home to Northampton Town. Players of note include both Barry Hayles and DJ Campbell who have played for Boro previously. City also have youth England internationals in Joe Mattock and Jack Hobbs (on loan from Liverpool) and defender Michael Morrison who joined the club in the summer from Blue Square Premier side Cambridge United.

What this draw does is give both sides an extra incentive to get to the first round. The Boro players will want a chance to perform on the big stage and I would of thought this is a game that TV companies may be interested in covering. Horsham though will also be up for this game now and if they play as well as they did yesterday then Boro could find it tough to get through. If we do get through what a game it will be in just two weeks time!

Other ties that caught my interest were Wycombe being drawn away against AFC Wimbledon. Peter Taylor’s side will not find that easy. Mark Stimson and his array of ex Boro players are also away from home against Bury. Barrow make one of the longest trips of the round when they travel down to Eastbourne Borough. Grays also have a long distance trip to Carlisle. There is an interesting all Conference tie between Kidderminster and Cambridge and Ryan Kirby’s Harlow Town have a home tie against League 2 Macclesfield Town.