Hereford United have been handed a tough task in the third round of the FA Trophy with an away tie at Exeter City.

The Bulls, who knocked the Devon side out of the LDV Vans Trophy back in October with goals from Steve Guinan and David Brown in a 2-0 success, will travel on January 10 - the last of three meetings with the Grecians in just over a fortnight.

They host them on December 26 for a televised Nationwide Conference clash and then travel to St James Park for the return encounter on New Year's Day.

Exeter currently lie fourth in the Conference table after winning six of their 10 home matches and drawing the other four.

But by Christmas they may well be much further down as they are due a 12-point penalty for entering a Creditors' Voluntary Arrange-ment after spiralling debts forced them to the brink of closure.

Last term, Hereford were eliminated from the FA Trophy by eventual Conference champions Yeovil Town, 2-1 in a third round home tie.

This season, however, there is more to be gained financially with £4,000 for the winners of each third-round tie and £50,000 for the Trophy winners.

United are without a game this weekend as their scheduled opponents Scarborough face a trip to Port Vale in an FA Cup second-round tie on Sunday.

The Bulls will now make the long trip to the McCain Stadium on Tuesday, February 3.

The fixture gap allows boss Graham Turner some breathing space to consider his options at the heart of his defence with Andy Tretton unlikely to be fit until the New Year and Tamika Mkandawire set to reject the opportunity to extend his loan period from West Bromwich Albion.

But, with the half-way point in the season reached, the league table offers plenty of scope for optimism.