DENIS SMITH gives Wrexham only a 50/50 chance of being around to play Bristol City next Saturday, writes ANDY ROSE.

And even then the Dragons boss admits he is being optimistic.

The League Two club faces the very real threat of being liquidated at the High Court on Wednesday.

Club officials are working around the clock to come up with a last-gasp solution to their crippling cash crisis.

Without a rescue plan to lay before the court to fend off the Inland Revenue's winding-up petition, Wrexham's 132-year existence could grind to an abrupt end on The Strand.

And Smith is bracing himself and for the worst.

"I don't think it is time to give up, but I would think that we possibly have a 50/50 chance of surviving as a club," said Smith. "But then I have always been an optimist.

"I believe that there will still be some life in the club this time next week, but other people will be far more dismal about our prospects.

"What we have to accept is that only one person knows what he is going to do with the club and that is Alex Hamilton (the majority shareholder).

"The only way the situation can be solved is by him deciding to sell because there are people willing to buy."

Smith is prepared, along with his players, for the worst come judgement day, but insists he hasn't yet told them to pack their bags.

"I have been in difficult situations before as a manager, but never got to the stage where a club is so near to going out of business," said Smith. "I have tried to keep the players informed as much as possible, but they are intelligent men and they know what might happen."

Smith insists the entire nation will suffer should the club go to the wall. "People think of 11 players and the fans as being it. But Wrexham is so much more," said Smith. "We run kids' teams from nine to 19, which would all go. We have community officers going into 65 schools as far down as mid-Wales and charities make a fortune out of us through signed shirts and player appearances.

"There would be a massive hole if Wrexham disappeared, and Wales would be the poorer for it."