HEREFORD United boss Graham Turner is expecting a spicy encounter as Barnet arrive for the opening fixture of their Nationwide Conference campaign tomorrow in front of the Sky cameras (12.05pm).

The Director of Football believes the combination of newly relegated opponents and television will provide all the ingredients for an attractive match at Edgar Street.

But the Bulls chief is aiming to draw the sting out of the Bees despite the visitors bringing with them a squad packed with Football League experience albeit with several key players missing from last season including Darren Currie, Sam Stockley and Tony Richards.

Barnet boss John Still has had to make cuts after losing League status including the closure of their centre of excellence with the loss of 188 youngsters.

He has also had to reduce his squad from 28 to 22 and this is expected to be whittled down further to 18.

Still also has history weighted against him with his side failing to win at Edgar Street during five attempts when both sides were in the Football League.

Turner admits they could not have asked for a better match to kick off their season.

"The fact they are newly relegated and the cameras are here adds a bit of spice to the match," said Turner.

"We've had them watched early in pre-season and they've got a number of experienced players with league experience who will be eager to get over the disappointment of being relegated."

But win, lose or draw Turner will not be reading too much into the result in terms of assessing Hereford's prospects for the remainder of the season.

"It will be nice to test our skills against ex-League players and there are three points at stake but nothing more - the result of the first game won't be any indication for the rest of the season.

"We can't wait to get underway, we've worked hard in pre-season and would like to get off to a good start which adds to the tension but players have to cope with that."

The Nationwide league kicks off tomorrow with promotion issues still to be decided after the Football Association rejected Conference clubs idea of a play-off system for the top five clubs.

Conference chairmen have a deadline of September 20 to try and resolve the issue.

On the field Hereford's injury crisis appears to have eased with just long term injuries Scott Cooksey, Phil Robinson, John Snape and Steve Piearce missing.

Gavin Williams, who picked up an ankle knock in last Saturday's friendly against Everton, has been training all week and is available for selection as are Rob Elmes and player of the year Matt Clarke who is recovering from an ankle knock.

Striker Scott Voice is available and will be aiming to show he can score goals at Conference level while Rotherham United signing Mark Williams is eager to start after missing most of the last two years with injury.

Trialists Daniel Davidson and Christian James are set to be included after being offered contracts in midweek. Davidson has signed a part-time contract while James has been awarded a full-time contract.

But fellow trialists Nick Plotnek and Sean Derry have not been offered deals by Turner.

Hereford (from): Baker, Clarke, M. Williams, Voice, Elmes, Parry, T. James, Goodwin, Shirley, G. Williams, Quiggin, Rodgerson, Wright, C. James, Davidson.