'Now we could be just one step away from playing a huge team' Deano has Cup fever.

Byline: MARK CURRIE 

WREXHAM manager Dean Saunders is looking forward to locking horns with his Swindon Town counterpart Danny Wilson in the second round of the FA Cup in three weeks' time.

Home advantage against the League One outfit on Saturday November 28 was the Dragons' reward for beating Lowestoft Town and, although the outcome was in the balance until Gareth Taylor's 89th minute winner, the Racecourse boss was happy his side extended their unbeaten run to six matches.

"It's a good draw for us because we are at home," said Saunders. "I know Swindon are a good team and they have a good, experienced manager, but we will be the underdogs and it's probably not the draw they would have wanted.

"We are two steps down the line in the competition and I said to the players before Saturday's game that they were two games away from a possible draw against the likes of Manchester United or Liverpool.

Robins' "Now we must try to take another step along the road even though it will be a hard game for us."

Before then, Wrexham have league matches at home to Hayes & Yeading on Saturday and at Histon a week later and Saunders wants his side not only to maintain their recent form, but also to work harder on their finishing in training.

"We need to keep the run going because everyone looks livelier, the players seem more confident, the team is more settled and we are showing some consistency," he added.

"We are starting to nick goals in the latter stages of games, which shows that the players will keep going to the end, but we are not putting teams to the sword. Having said that, I would be ten times more concerned if we were not creating chances.

"But we need someone to step up to the plate and get on the end of crosses. If that were the case we'd be winning 2-0 or 3-0 and making life a lot easier for ourselves. The players bang them in during training and if they took that into games I wouldn't have to be sitting on the edge of my seat right up to the final whistle."

The Wrexham boss will be absent from the Racecourse dugout on Saturday, his duties as assistant coach to Wales manager John Toshack taking precedence and taking him to Cardiff for the friendly international against Scotland.

It's only the second time the fixtures have clashed - Saunders missed last season's match at Histon - since he was appointed to the Racecourse job and he made no apologies for giving responsibility for Saturday's Blue Square Premier game to Brian Carey.

"Nothing has changed since I was offered and accepted the Wrexham job (on those terms)," he said.

"I'm here with Wrexham tomorrow and after that I will know everything that is being done during the remainder of the week and I will have the final say on team selection for the weekend.

Wilson "But when I was offered this job I was a coach with an international team and my previous job had been at a Premier League club, so for me to work in the Conference was something I had never considered before and it was a massive decision for me."

The Dragons have a reserve team game at Blackpool tomorrow evening and Saunders has agreed to a friendly against Merthyr Tydfil at Penydarren Park next Tuesday evening.

The Zamaretto League Premier Division part-timers are struggling to stay in business and Saunders said: "Essentially it's a fund-raiser for Merthyr, a famous old Welsh club that has fallen on hard times.

"For the sake of a bus journey down there we might be able to help them pay the wages for another week, so I'll be taking a decent squad for what will be a chance to learn more about the players and to give them the fitness work they need."

CAPTION(S):

Robins' Danny Wilson Dean Saunders' Dragons are in the second round of the FA Cup