Joint-manager John Embery says Herne Bay’s FA Cup first qualifying round tie against Walton Casuals will be a true test of both teams’ early-season credentials.

Bay going into Saturday’s tie at Winch’s Field off the back of four straight wins, while Casuals are something of a surprise package as they sit top of Bostik South having won all their games.

Bay registered their first win of the league campaign at home to Chipstead on Saturday before a 3-0 win at Faversham on Bank Holiday Monday.

Embery could not hide his delight at the strides made by his young side under his and Jermaine Darlington’s charge, claiming: “We know what we have got. They are a special bunch.

“They are a young group but they were better in every department on Monday.

“We want to be excited and watch good football and they are capable of doing
that.

“We try to get it down and pass it, we are technically strong. If we’re on it, teams find it hard against us.

“The key now for us is to try and get consistency. We are pretty much an under-21 team and they are learning on the job.

“They’re going to make little errors from time to time. It takes experience to be able to take control and see games out and they will learn that as we go along.

“This is just the beginning. It’s a long season and we’ve got a lot of hard work to come.

“We don’t want to get complacent on the back of a couple of games. We have to work even harder now.”

Casuals also beat Faversham – 4-3 in Surrey on Saturday – and have maximum league points ahead of the tie which will earn the winners £3,000 in prize money.

Embery said: “That’s four wins on the bounce for us and they have won all their games – it will be a good test for us.

“As a player, we wanted to be involved in big games, we were hungry to play them.

“These will be a different challenge to Faversham but that will only test our players and help them develop.”

Alex Mulrooney-Skinner and new arrival from Margate Khalil McFarlane will have hamstring problems assessed while Harry Miller (knee) is another doubt.