FA Cup the perfect stage to test our strength says Fleetwood boss Joey Barton

It followed another trip to the south-east in the first round, when Town overcame non-league Barnet.

Speaking ahead of last night’s draw, Barton said of his side’s FA Cup run: “We just want to test ourselves.

“From a coaching perspective, you really want to test yourself against some good sides to see how good your side is.

“How good is this team? Can we compete with high- level opposition?”

As always in football, finances are never far from the agenda and Barton says that is another reason why a run in the competition is valuable.

He added; “To get to the third round is obviously a factor in the financial overview of any clubs at our level.

“It can make a huge difference if you pull a nice bonanza tie in the competition – it could be worth £700,000-£900,000, maybe even a million in some cases.

“For clubs like us it can make a huge difference over the course of your year.

“It can set you up for a nice season.

“But the flipside is that we wouldn’t want such a tie to be at home because our stadium only holds 5,000.”

Fleetwood will discover their opponents in the third round of the Leasing.com Trophy on Thursday evening.

Town were the first team through to the last 16 when they won 4-0 at Everton Under-21 last Tuesday. Most of the second-round ties take place tonight or tomorrow.

The draw will be broadcast live on Sky Sports News from 7.15pm. It will again be divided into northern and southern sections, with eight teams in each half of the draw.

The reserve team derby between Fleetwood and Blackpool at Poolfoot Farm in the Central League Cup has been put back a week.

The tie was scheduled to take place this afternoon but has been moved to next Tuesday.