Old rivals Chippenham Town are next up for the Eagles when they arrive in town for their Southern Premier match on Saturday.

Their two epic play-off games – a semi-final penalty shoot-out defeat in 2004-05 and the memorable 3-2 Conference South promotion winning final in 2005-06 – will live long in the memory.

However, last season Bedford were taken apart by the Wiltshire side at Chippenham, going down 5-0, while a Sean Seavill strike was enough to earn the Bluebirds victory at the New Eyrie.

Ahead of the latest battle, manager Lee Howarth, who captained the Eagles in both play-off games, said: "There is a bit of history there, they are old rivals and usually a strong side.

"They are similar to ourselves in that they have fallen away a little bit over the past couple of seasons, but it'll be nice to see them down here again.

"We'll try and play our way and adopt the same game plan, in terms of keeping things tight and hopefully hitting them on the break, as well using our strength and set pieces well."

Howarth confirmed that right-back Ashley Blake should be fit after being stretchered off injured during the midweek draw with Brackley.