Barrow AFC captain Josh Granite is hoping to reach the first round proper of the FA Cup for the first time in his career, with the Bluebirds set for a tricky tie at Chorley tomorrow.

Granite revealed he’d had an inkling that Barrow would be paired with the Magpies, one of the in-form teams in non-league football, when listening to the fourth qualifying round draw with manager Ian Evatt last Monday.

It’s certainly one of the tougher ties they could have been given, with Chorley unbeaten under manager Jamie Vermiglio this season and proving to be almost impregnable in defence.

But Granite is very much looking forward to the game, from which the reward for victory could be a plum tie against one of the larger EFL clubs that enter the Cup at that stage.

Granite said: “I’ve played in this round previously, but I’ve never played in the first round, so hopefully we’ll get a good result on Saturday and draw a good club away, or even at Holker Street, and see how we get on.

“Obviously the FA Cup is a massive competition, with a huge history, and it is something that I’m really looking forward to playing in. If we do get a result on Saturday, then I’ll be able to keep an eye out on the draw and hopefully we’ll get a big League club to test ourselves against.”

One of Chorley’s victims this season is Granite’s old club Ashton United, who were hammered 5-0 at Victory Park last month, with Barrow old boys Louis Almond, Marcus Carver and Elliot Newby all scoring.

He has, in fact, been in contact with some of his former teammates in an effort to get an inside story as to what AFC can expect when they face the Magpies.

Granite said: “I actually watched the highlights from the game and one of my old friends who was in net for Ashton had a bit of a nightmare in the game.

“I also spoke to a couple of the lads and they said they were a good side, but 5-0 was not a fair reflection and the score should never have been what it was.

“We know they’re a good side – you don’t go unbeaten to this stage of the season if you’re not a good side and you don’t do a lot of things right, but we’re not concentrating solely on them.

“We know that if we go there and play like we can, we can beat them. That’s the outlook we have on every single game.”

There aren’t too many survivors in Barrow’s squad from their last FA Cup tie, which ended in calamitous fashion against Northern Premier League side Shaw Lane.

“Obviously Dan Jones, Joel Dixon and Jack Barthram were there – there aren’t a lot of lads from last year,” Granite said.

“Everyone knows that they went out to lower-league opposition, so it’s something that we’re keen to put right and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”