LYMINGTON Town have been paid the ultimate respect by Torquay United ahead of Saturday’s ‘David v Goliath’ FA Cup second qualifying round at the Sports Ground (12.30pm).

The Gulls will start as red-hot favourites against Dave Lewis’s Sydenhams Premier Division underdogs, but new manager Gary Johnson is acutely aware that it is a game they can ill afford to lose.

With a limited pool of players at their disposal, Torquay – a Football League side as recently as 2014 – conceded a county cup tie at Plymouth Parkway on Wednesday to focus all their attentions on the trip to Hampshire.

The Gulls have suffered a fall from grace in recent years, relegated to the National League and then the National League South.

And, with a £9,000 slice of the FA Prize Fund – plus £1,000 broadcast fee for live BBC online screening - on offer, the Devon visitors are in no doubt as to the significance of the Lymington tie.

If they triumph, Johnson would be the first Gulls manager to win an FA Cup match since Martin Ling oversaw a 3-1 win at Chesterfield in November 2011.

“Our focus is all on the Lymington game now,” said Johnson. “The Cup is massively important to us.”

Lymington have already hit the Cup jackpot, banking £11,140 from the Prize Fund for wins over Sandhurst Town, Frimley Green and Lydney Town.

John Pyatt, director of football at the New Forest club, said: “We are very proud to be playing a club like Torquay United in the FA Cup, although we are realistic enough to know that we are only playing them because of a bit of recent misfortune, which no one wants to see at any club.

“Of course we will respect them and give them a warm welcome to Lymington but, on the field, we’ll be giving it a real go.”

Saturday’s tie is live on the BBC Sport website, the Red Button and Connected TVs from 12.20 BST.

Sholing, the other Sydenhams Premier survivors, will also come up against National League South opposition away to Slough Town.

Manager Dave Diaper, whose Boatmen's side sit top of the league, said: "This is one of the toughest draws we could have wished for and will certainly test the resolve and character of the whole squad.

"Their 3G pitch will also be a disadvantage to us but, on the plus side, we played well and won on Hamworthy's (3G) in the last round and we should be able to pick from a full squad with Pete Castle completing his three-match ban.

"We are looking forward to the occasion and the opportunity to play against a club with such an iconic history, which is clearly demonstrated by them appearing in the second round proper of the FA Cup on no less than eight occasions, with the most recent being just last season.

"We will do our best to bridge the three-level gap between the clubs and, after all, this is the FA Cup and you never know..."