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The Bulls’ head coach acknowledges all eyes will be on Danny Cowley’s League One outfit, who are ‘expected to win comfortably’.

The 38-year-old has been in charge at Edgar Street since January 2020 and possesses a degree in psychology along with a 13-year career as a centre-back.

Hereford currently sit 14th in National League North and face an out-of-form Pompey side who sit three divisions above in League One.

And ahead of his side’s tough test, Gowling plans to utilise those psychology skills to help his players cope with the pressure.

He told The Hereford Times: ‘It’s a big jump for us to play a team like that.

‘We’ve got to be at 100 per cent and at our maximum and if we’re not then we’ll get found wanting.

‘The club has already won in the sense it’s put the club back in the spotlight which it hasn’t been for a while.

Hereford boss Josh Gowling has deployed some surprising tactics to help his players cope against Pompey on Friday.

‘Financially it’ll be great for the club. If we win we’ll just look at the next one. We’re not going to get too high or too low, we just need to keep on an even keel and look to get a result on Friday.

‘The lads are raring to go. A big area of my background that I can help the lads with is coping mechanisms and how we cope under pressure.

‘We’ve got to drill these lads that when the pressure is on that all they are focusing on is what we’ve done in training.

‘They are expected to win, they’re on television, they’re a Football League club and they’re expected to win comfortably, while nothing is expected from us.

‘But if they’re not on their game then they’ll get found wanting.’

Since reforming in 2015, Friday represents the second time in their short history they will have come up against Football League opposition.

They took Fleetwood to a replay in the second round of the competition during the 2017-18 campaign.

But the upcoming test for Gowling’s men will prove far more of a challenge, with a capacity crowd expected at Edgar Street for the BBC2-televised game.

Hereford boss and ex-Bournemouth and Gillingham defender reveals his surprise tactic to inflict potential FA Cup upset on Portsmouth