As tomorrow sees Plymouth Argyle, Exeter City and Torquay United begin their FA Cup campaigns, we will take a closer look at the challenge they will be facing as they aim to make progress in the competition.
Lincoln City vs Plymouth Argyle
For the third season in a row, Plymouth Argyle begin their FA Cup campaign with a tie against non-league opposition, and aiming to improve to what has been a disappointing recent record in the competition.
Not since they beat Hull City 3-2 in the third round of the 2007-08 season have the Pilgrims won a match in the cup. They have lost six of their eight FA Cup ties since then, which includes exits in the last two years against non-leaguers Stourbridge and Dorchester Town.
However in current boss John Sheridan, they have a manager who has reached a cup final as a player-he was part of the Sheffield Wednesday that lost in the 1993 final to Arsenal after a replay- and no doubt he will be keen to improve upon that record as they head to Sincil Bank for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
One change in personnel that will be made by Sheridan for tomorrow will be the selection of Jake Cole, who has played in all three of Argyle's other cup ties this season, in goal instead of Luke McCormick.
Peterborough United vs Exeter City
Nearly eight years have passed since the Grecians famously took Manchester United-then managed by Sir Alex Ferguson- to a replay after drawing 0-0 at Old Trafford.
That was the last time to date that Exeter reached the third stage of the competition and Peterborough United- managed by Ferguson's son, Darren- currently stand in the way of Paul Tisdale's sides making progress in the competition this season.
The Grecians set to include three players who have previously for the Posh in the squad in the form of Aaron Davies, John O'Flynn and Matt Gill, who returned to St James Park recently on loan from Bristol Rovers.
Peterborough's side will also feature two names that are familiar with fans of the game in the South West in the form of former Torquay keeper Bobby Olejnik and ex Yeovil full-back Craig Alcock.
Torquay United vs Rochdale
There will be a feeling of familiarity when Torquay United play Rochdale tomorrow afternoon.
It will be the second time that the Gulls have faced Dale this season, as they met at Spotland on September 14th, a clash that Dale- managed by former Plymouth Argyle defender Keith Hill- won courtesy of a late strike from Ian Henderson.
However, Torquay's recent record in the FA Cup is good as they have only failed to reach the second round once- last season when they were beaten by Harrogate Town- since the 2004-05 campaign.
During this run, they have reached the third round three times and the fourth round twice and beaten Blackpool, Notts County, Walsall and Carlisle United along the way.
Also, they have won their last two competitive matches with Dale, who are currently 4th in League Two, 5-0 and 4-2 in the 2009-10 and 2012-13 seasons respectively.
