FA Cup trip to Mariners is as tough as it gets for the Magpies
Chorley boss Andy Preece admits that his team have probably got as tough a draw as they can get at this stage of the FA Cup.
His men travel to fellow National League North side South Shields this weekend in the third qualifying round of the competition.
It pits the teams occupying first and third in their respective division with the Mariners four points clear of the Magpies after a undefeated start to the season.
Preece believes that the way the competition is regionally structured at the qualifying stages means clubs like Chorley face more difficult ties than other clubs in other parts of the country.
"We’ve got another team in our league but that is always going to happen because of the way it (draw) is structured, Preece said.
"I dont know why we haven’t looked at it previously a little closer, but there are only 20 teams in the north and 60 teams in the south so it’s obvious that we are going to get more difficult games.
"It’s not an equal playing field for all teams and there’s so much money at stake for clubs that I think it needs to be looked at.
"It’s a hard draw – the toughest tie that we can get with them being top of the league.”
"They have recruited really well – players that we looked at but they were well out of our price range.”