Horsham relishing FA Cup test against Eastbourne Borough

The Hornets have had to overcome two replays, against Haywards Heath Town and Kingstonian respectively, to reach the third qualifying round.

The Sports, who won 6-0 at home to Braintree Town on Saturday, advanced after a victory at Hanwell Town.

Di Paola said: “I can’t wait. The FA Cup is always the best competition to be in.

“It’s a good local one for us. We’ll be giving everything to put on a performance.

“We know they’re a good side, we know they’re in the league above, we know we’re the underdogs, but we’ll be bang up for it.”

Last Saturday saw a short-handed Horsham lose 1-0 in their first-ever trip to Bowers & Pitsea in the Isthmian Premier.

Lee Harding had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half before Bowers' Max Cornhill struck in the second to consign the Hornets to their fourth defeat in seven games.

The result see Horsham drop to second-from-bottom in the table.

Di Paola said: "We were poor, probably for the first time this season. I thought we were miles off it.

"Extenuating circumstances meant we had a tough week with the Kingstonian games. The boys had put a lot in and we were running on empty.

"It’s frustrating. It’s a league game and we need to pick up points. I just didn’t think there was anything we could do as a team really.

"[Steve] Metcalf, [Danny] Dudley, [Alex] Laing, [Eddie] Dsane; none of them have played a lot and they were out on their feet.

"We tried numerous different things to try and stimulate a performance, but we let in a sloppy goal in the second half.

"We just didn’t have the power or energy to come back into the game.

"I think it’s our worst performance since we’ve been at step three, but I can’t be too hard on the boys in this instance.

"We had to do too much on Saturday and Tuesday with the amount of injuries. But it’s not the end of the world, it’s just one game.

"Once we get past Saturday’s game, one way or another, we can start bringing boys back into the squad."