Martin Allen has promised to field the strongest starting XI he can for Barnet’s trip to Chelmsford City in the FA Cup on Saturday, but will be without John Akinde and Lee Cook.

The Bees will travel to Essex to take on the Clarets in the fourth qualifying round, and if successful, will enter the first round with League 1 and 2 sides next month.

And after promising to select his strongest side, Allen will be without Akinde and Cook – both of whom picked up knocks in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over Braintree Town.

Allen told the club’s website: “We have picked up a couple of injuries over the last few days so Lee Cook and John Akinde are both definitely out and won’t be playing on Saturday. Cooky has got a kick on his ankle the other night so with the cuts and bruising he won’t be ready.

“(Sam) Muggleton is not quite going to make it; he is just about going to miss out. Keanu (Marsh-Brown) is still injured so he is not available. Charlie MacDonald is finishing his late session with the specialist this week so he should hopefully be starting back in full training with us next week.”

Speaking after Tuesday’s win against the Iron, Allen confirmed he would taking the tie with Chelmsford City, who are 12th in the Conference South, seriously.

“We are going to put out the best team we have possibly got on Saturday at Chelmsford and then go onto the next game,” confirmed Allen.

“We [will] just do exactly the same as we have been doing in the past – nothing is going to change. The FA Cup is special to me and I think the FA Cup would be special to all our supporters. We will prepare, train and organise our team to the very best we can.

I was involved in the game at Bracknell a few years ago [in 2003/04 with Barnet] – what a tough match that was. There is no doubt about it, it is going to be a very tough match for us to play in on Saturday afternoon and we will have to be on the best part of our game to make sure we get through.”

Asked if he set out a target for his side in the competition, Allen replied: “I want to beat a Premier League team – that is it.”

Chelmsford could be without defender Mark Haines after he missed the Clarets’ last two league and cup fixtures.

Mark Hawkes’ side have lost just two of their last ten in all competitions, winning six of those ties, including Tuesday’s penalty shoot-out victory over Barking in the Essex Senior Cup.

The winners of Saturday’s tie will net £12,500 in prize money and enter the first round proper with the tie to be played on the weekend of Saturday, November 8.

Any potential replay will have to be settled before October 30.