WREXHAM will chase a cash jackpot of almost £100,000 when they take on Scunthorpe United in next month's FA Cup second round.

Sky Sports yesterday confirmed they are to screen the Glanford Park tie live on Friday, December 3.

That means the crisis-stricken Dragons, who hope to survive a winding-up order at the High Court tomorrow, are guaranteed a cheque for £75,000 from the broadcaster.

Should they progress to the next round, they will receive a further £24,000 in prize money - not to mention the possibility of landing a money-spinning tie against a Premiership or Championship side in the third round draw.

Wrexham manager Denis Smith last night welcomed news of Sky's decision, saying: "Anything we can do to put Wrexham in the public domain will help us. You never know, there might be someone watching who sees our plight and decides to come in and buy us.

"Admittedly, it's a long shot, but every little bit helps. It's hard to put a price on the exposure the game will give us.

"The money, of course, will come in handy too because it's obviously been in short supply here for a while."

Fans are also sure to welcome the opportunity to highlight their club's plight on national television, but Smith cautioned: "It's actually a tough draw for us. It could have been a lot more kind, anyway. Scunthorpe are flying high at the moment but we're the side from the higher league so we'll have to go out there and prove we're the better team."

Sky Sports refused to confirm whether the Dragons' financial plight - the club is more than £2.5m in debt - had any bearing on their decision to choose the game for live coverage, but a spokesman added: "Wrexham have a great FA Cup tradition and it should be a great tie, especially with Scunthorpe doing so well."

Smith, meanwhile, expected to welcome Craig Morgan back from injury yesterday but the defender missed training due to an illness.

And while the versatile Dean Bennett yesterday had surgery to cure his hernia problem, veteran striker Chris Armstrong had a scan on a persistent achilles injury.

* Wrexham hope to have tickets for the LDV Vans Trophy tie at Chester City on sale by the end of the week.