Luton Town travel to Kidderminster Harriers for tomorrow's FA Trophy third round match and though manager Gary Brabin hinted at fielding a mix of fringe and youth players, he refused to distinguish it as a 'trophy team'.
First team stars have been played in the FA Trophy this term but it has been a bedrock for youth team players and there is likely to be a mix of the two at Aggborough.
The Hatters boss said: "We have to be sensible with what team we select, I certainly won't be sending a load of kids there or our so-called 'trophy team'.
"It will be a sensible selection in terms of who needs football and who deserves that chance, and who we feel is going to be good enough to hopefully progress to the next round."
He added: "Stuart Fleetwood, Amari Morgan-Smith, JP Kissock, they've all overlapped into both set-ups and I don't think there's a trophy team and a league team."
But after six Town teenagers made their senior bows in the previous round against Hinckley United, tomorrow presents another chance for development players like Colby McAdams, Jake Woolley and Jerry Nash to clock up more minutes on the pitch.
Brabin said: "It's a good opportunity for them people but they've got to be there on merit.
"On each of the Trophy games it is the people who have earned it that have stayed in the squad, and people who haven't met our demands haven't been in the next squad and that will continue."
The boss is not taking the competition lightly and believes that whatever team is picked on Saturday will be more than capable of maintaining the Hatters' interest in the competition beyond the third round.
"We want to go into every game with a winning mentality. There are games where people are on the fringe of things, young lads and development players who will benefit from this experience, but we want to win football matches," the Liverpudlian said.
The Hatters plundered a 2-1 victory in their last Blue Square Bet Premier visit to the Reds but with Kidderminster just six points and two places behind third-placed Luton, Brabin expects a hard-fought contest.
"They're going to be pushing hard to get into one of the play-off spots and I'm sure they'll want to get to the final of this Trophy, so I'm expecting a tough game," he acknowledged.
Defensive pairing Dean Beckwith and Shane Blackett are available for selection after playing a part in Tuesday night's 2-0 Bedfordshire Senior Cup quarter final win over Bedford Town.
However, James Dance is ruled out of this tie and awaiting diagnosis while Keith Keane won't feature but is thought to be about "a week away" from returning. Meanwhile, defender Alex Lacey has also been ruled out.
Brabin said: "Alex won't be in contention, he's been in hospital, he's had problems with his stomach so he hasn't been too well so won't be involved."
