HARTLEPOOL UNITED go to Port Vale in the second round of the FA Cup. 
Pools comfortably beat Stamford in the first round on Sunday, but have now been handed a tricky tie. 
Vale are 11th in League One, and former Pools loanee Michael Brown, the Hartlepool-born midfielder, is part of their squad. However, he is currently sidelined with an Achilles injury.
“I’m convinced we can go away anywhere and give teams a game so it’s a game we’ll look forward to,” said Pools boss Craig Hignett.
“It will be tough, there’s no doubt about that, because they’re going well in League One under Bruno Ribeiro.
“But we’ve been excellent in some of our away games this season; we have a way of playing which will cause them problems so I’m sure it will be a good game.’’
Pools have been heavily beaten on their last two cup games at Vale Park. Under Colin Cooper they were thumped 6-2 in the League Cup two years ago and in 1994 in the FA Cup they lost 6-0.
Pools skipper Billy Paynter, who scored on Sunday, is a former Vale striker.
The tie is unlikley to be played on Saturday, December 3 as Stoke City are at home to Burnley in the Premier League that day and the clubs don’t play home games on the same day due to policing issues. 
As a result, Pools trip could be played on Friday evening, or Sunday afternoon.


DRAW: Westfields or Curzon Ashton v Bury or AFC Wimbledon, Chesterfield v Wycombe, Millwall v Braintree Town, Macclesfield v Oxford United, Bolton v Sheffield United, Blackpool v Gillingham or Brackley Town, Whitehawk or Stourbridge v Northampton, Boreham Wood or Notts County v Peterborough, Cambridge United or Dover v Coventry or Morecambe, Port Vale v Hartlepool, Bristol Rovers or Crawley v Barrow or Taunton, Woking v Accrington Stanley, Lincoln City v Oldham, Luton v Yeovil or Solihull Moors, Sutton United v Cheltenham or Crewe, Eastleigh or Swindon v Halifax or Dagenham and Redbridge, Shrewsbury v Southport or Fleetwood, Charlton v MK Dons, Plymouth v Newport or Alfreton, Carlisle v Maidstone United or Rochdale. Ties on weekend of December 2/3/4.