Barrow AFC are facing a gruelling 1,733 miles on the road in the space of 12 days after their FA Cup fate was confirmed.

Ipswich Town’s first round replay win at Oldham Athletic means the Tractor Boys will host Barrow in the second round.

It will mean a first visit to Portman Road for the Bluebirds.

And it adds another long trip into a run of big journeys for Mark Cooper, his team and Barrow’s supporters.

Barrow face two long league trips in the build-up to the Ipswich tie.

They go to Forest Green for a Tuesday night clash on November 23.

They follow that by going to EFL new boys Sutton United on November, 27.

Then the following weekend they will head to Suffolk in an attempt to cause an upset against Ipswich and reach the potentially money-spinning third round of the cup.

Manager Cooper says the chance to take on League One’s eighth-placed side – and a club that lifted the FA Cup back in 1978 – is one Barrow should relish.

“It’s great for us to go to a club with a great stadium, good crowd, a team that’s won the FA Cup and get to pit our wits against one of the top clubs in League One,” he said.

“It’s a good draw for us.”

Ipswich got the better of Oldham at Boundary Park on Tuesday night in a closely-fought replay.

Harrison McGahey put Keith Curle’s League Two underdogs ahead midway through the first half before Conor Chaplin quickly levelled for Paul Cook’s visitors.

An 81st-minute strike from Idris El Mizouni then sent the third tier side through with a 2-1 win.

The second round game will be the first competitive meeting between Ipswich and Barrow.

Tractor Boys manager Cook said he was relieved to have come through a tough tie at Oldham.

He said the close nature of the contest highlighted the competitive quality of the lower leagues – suggesting he won’t be taking Barrow for granted in two weeks’ time.

“It was a very difficult night,” Cook told iFollow Ipswich. “Oldham were very good in both games, they were excellent.

“It just shows how the leagues are levelling up. We’ve come to a game where people might think we’d walk all over them - it was anything but.

“There’s always so many cup upsets. I’ve been involved in them, both good and bad. These games becomes levellers. We picked a team that we felt could win the game and I’m delighted for the players that they’ve won.

“It was fantastic travelling support on a Tuesday night. Being in the second round of the competition was what they wanted and I’m delighted that we’ve delivered that for them.

“I’m delighted for Idris. He trains so hard, he works hard and he’s a great young man. To score in front of the travelling fans; they’re moments you dream about as a young lad growing up in football.”