A FOOTBALL blogger from Derbyshire is hoping to be a lucky charm for Chelmsford City today in their FA Cup tie against Barnet.

Comedian and writer Carl Jones is on a football tour of the FA Cup’s underdogs this season and has so far cheered Salford City, Ilkeston FC and Warrington Town to victory in the early qualifying rounds – all against teams from higher divisions.

Carl said: “I’m a big fan of non-league and a bit of a football tourist. It all started last month when I went along to Salford City with a friend. They beat Nantwich 2-0 and I wrote about my experience. It’s grown from there, really.”

Since then, Carl saw Ilkeston beat Solihull 1-0 in the Second Qualifying Round and eighth tier Warrington Town survive a 20-minute delay due to floodlight failure to knock out Conference North side Colwyn Bay in a replay last week. He’s hoping to continue the lucky streak at the Melbourne Stadium on Saturday.

He said: “I’m really looking forward to the game. It’s a big challenge for Chelmsford but I saw Warrington overcome a side even more places above them in the league ladder than this so there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic about the magic of the cup.”

Chelmsford City take on Barnet at Melbourne at 3pm.