SOUTHEND United skipper Chris Barker will be turning to his brother Richie for inside information ahead of Saturday's FA Cup clash at Bury.

Richie spent 17 months in charge of the Shakers before leaving to take charge of Crawley Town in August.

And Barker will therefore be turning to him for advice before this weekend's second round tie.

“I will certainly be talking to my brother ahead of the game, mainly to ask him about the right winger I'm likely to be facing,” said Barker, 32.

“I'll ask him how he likes to play and what I can expect from him and hopefully a little bit on inside information will be able to help me.

“I already know a little bit about Bury because of my brother and tracking their games when he was in charge.

“But Kevin Blackwell is in charge now and he's brought in a few different players.

“Things have turned around a little bit for them in the last few weeks and this will be a hard test for us.”

Bury are currently 21st in the League One table but have started to find their best form, winning five of their last eight matches.

Barker is therefore expecting a tough test at the weekend.

However he is keen to progress and finally enjoy a good cup run.

“I've had a stinker in cup competitions over the years so it would be nice to change that,” said Barker.

“I think the run we had last season in the LDV was the best I've had in a cup competition in my whole career.

“But it would be nice to keep this good run we're on going by getting a good result at Bury and moving in to the third round.

“Last year we came close to playing Liverpool at that stage of the competition and it would be brilliant if we could take on one of the top teams.

“However for that to happen we have to cause an upset by beating Bury and that will certainly not be an easy task.”