Braintree Town manager Alan Devonshire isn’t expecting too many members of his first-team squad to be involved in tonight’s Essex Senior Cup fourth round tie at Barking.

The Iron will book their place in the quarter-final with a win, but while he wants to see them progress, Devonshire won’t field a full-strength side as he is keeping an eye on some big league and cup tests coming up before Christmas.

Braintree had a strong side out when they won 7-0 at Heybridge Swifts in the third round as they had a number of players coming back to fitness who needed a run-out, but Devonshire is expecting the reverse to be the case this time.

He said: “We’ve had some big physical games in the last half a dozen and the pitches have been heavy.

“We need to recharge our batteries now and look forward to the game at Chester (in Skrill Premier on Saturday) and the next round of the FA Trophy the week after.

“We need to freshen a few up.

“You can see for yourself that there were a few boys out there on Saturday who were looking heavy-legged.

“It’s not rocket science to see that and we have to get them fresh again for the heavy programme over the Christmas period.

“There will be four or five (from the first-team squad) at Barking and that’s about it.

“I put in about eight of them for the last round, but there won’t be that many now.”

Elsewhere, WITHAM TOWN are also in knockout action tonight as they travel to Ware in the third round of the Robert Dyas League Cup.