Hawks boss Doswell: Marine are in a totally false position in the non-league pyramid

He believes the eighth tier Merseysiders could compete in the National League North - the same level of the game as Hawks.

Doswell takes his side to Liverpool on Sunday in front of the BT Sport cameras with Hawks bidding to reach the third round for just the second time in their 22-year history.

Hawks will be viewed as the favourites by many, given the fact they play two divisions higher and sit 43 places above their opponents in the pyramid.

But the former Sutton boss, who suffered shock FA Cup defeats to Alton Town and Burgess Hill during his spell at Gander Green Lane, is not taking Neil Young's side lightly.

They have already beaten National League North Chester and League Two Colchester to reach the second round.

Marine also possess players with higher league experience within their squad.

Defender David Raven, 35, made one senior appearance for Liverpool and played for Carlisle, Shrewsbury and Inverness Caledonian Thistle before dropping down the divisions.

Raven helped Inverness to the Scottish Cup final in 2014/15, scoring an extra time winner in the semi-final victory over Celtic.

But a calf injury ruled him out of the final against Falkirk.

Meanwhile, striker Mo Touray - on loan from League Two Salford - netted his maiden international goal in Wales under-21s' 3-1 win over Moldova earlier this month.

Doswell, certainly, is aware of their talents.

‘If you look at Marine, don’t be fooled by the level they’re playing at,' he said.

‘They’ve got Raven at centre-half who’s played more than 300 league games. They’ve got two lads from Salford that are League Two loans.

‘You’ve got to question how a step eight team is getting two League Two loans.

‘It sort of pretty much tells you all you need to know.

‘The three up front, Kengni (Neil), Cummins (Niall) and Touray (Mo), are all real threats.

‘I think Barrigan (James), the blonde-haired lad who is a bin man, he’s got a wand of a left foot and he was at Wigan and Preston.

‘You’ve only got to look at their background to know that this isn’t an equivalent Southern League side that we’re playing - it’s far from it.

‘You’ve got to know you’re football and Marine, for me, are at least a Conference South mid-table team as probably were Cray Valley PM and as probably were Chatham - all of those teams would be comfortable in the Conference South.'

The Hawks head into the tie with concerns over four players.

The quartet, who Doswell would not name, are all facing late fitness tests prior to the squad travelling north on Saturday afternoon.

It's hoped that at least two of those could be declared fit but fears remain over whether all of the injury doubts will be available.

Hawks are definitely without suspended midfielder Godfrey Poku and cup-tied pair Danny Kedwell and Sam Dowridge.

Doswell added: 'We’ve got a couple of issues but I don’t want to say too much in terms of who they are.

‘We’ve got two of three fitness tests for Saturday morning. I would expect that one or two of those will make it but there are certainly a couple who might not.

Poku is serving a one-game ban for his sending off against Cray in the last round. He was supposed to have served it by now but Hawks’ last two league games were postponed due to their opponents’ positive Covid test results.

Kedwell is cup-tied, having played for Hollands & Blair in an earlier round, and Sam Dowridge played for Bognor. Dowridge, on loan at the Rocks, has yet to make a Hawks appearance, but could have been called into the squad if there were injuries elsewhere.