Chesterfield’s reward should they beat Walsall in their FA Cup second round replay will be a trip to Sky Bet Championship side Brentford next month.

Rai Simons’ side will first have to negotiate a trip to the Bescot Stadium next Tuesday, after their goalless draw on Saturday at Chesterfield.

Nahki Wells and his Huddersfield Town team-mates, meanwhile, have been drawn at home to Reading in the third round. The Championship side fired their manager Steve Clarke on Friday less than 24 hours after they lost at home to Queens Park Rangers.

Yesterday’s draw threw up some interesting matches, not least of which will see Liverpool travel to Exeter City, of League Two.

As usual there was a hint of romance, with four non-league sides still in the competition given the chance to tackle the big boys.

Of those, only Eastleigh, of the Vanarama National League, are definitely through to the third round, and they have been rewarded with a home tie against Bolton Wanderers, who are struggling at the foot of the Championship.

Salford City, who play in the seventh-tier of the English game and are the non-league side co-owned by five ex-Manchester United internationals, have captured the all headlines in the competition so far, and have the prospect of a home tie if they win their second-round replay at Hartlepool.

The Northern Premier League Premier Division side, in whom brothers Gary and Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt hold a 50 per cent stake, will play Derby County, if they get through.

Whitehawk, a semi-professional team in National League South side, have the incentive of a lucrative trip to Goodison Park to take on Everton, but have to beat Dagenham & Redbridge, of League Two, in their second round replay.

The draw produced an unusually high number of all-top flight affairs, with Premier League teams playing each other in five matches.

Among those, Arsenal will begin their bid to win the competition for the third year running at home to Sunderland.

Arsene Wenger’s holders will start their defence against the side they beat 3-1 in the league on Saturday, as they seek to become only the third team in the history of the competition to win the trophy for three years in succession.

The last team to achieve the feat were Blackburn Rovers, who won the Cup in 1884, 1885 and 1886 in Britain’s Victorian era, eight years after Bolton had performed a similar treble.

The third round draw, which traditionally sees the introduction of the glamour clubs into the event, also paired two Premier League high flyers, with Tottenham Hotspur, who are fifth, taking on Leicester City, the league leaders.

The other top-tier ties are Watford against Newcastle United, Southampton face Crystal Palace and Norwich are at home to Manchester City. The games are due to be played on the weekend of January 8 to 11.