The league may be Darlington's number one priority but come 3pm this afternoon caretaker boss Mick Tait will be putting all thoughts of the Third Division to one side as they hit the FA Cup trail at Wrexham.

"The FA Cup is something special," said Tait.

Quakers reached the third round last season before succumbing to Peterborough in a replay.

And Tait is relishing the prospect of a similar run this time around.

"The players look forward to playing in it, the fans look forward to it and we want to have a good run," he said.

Tait is hoping a successful Cup campaign will give their fortunes in the league a welcome boost.

"If we put in a good performance and get a good result it will build confidence and the league results will improve," said Tait.

"The league is our priority because we're not in the position we want to be.

"There are no points at stake but we've still got to go out there and win the match because we want to be in the next round of the Cup, it's as simple as that."

With just one goal in their last three games Tait is well aware of where their problems lie.

He said: "If we'd have scored a few goals on Saturday when we had the chances it would have been a different story.

"As good as Rushden are and as high as they are in the league, we should have won that game.

"We had a game plan to snuff them out which worked.

"We had the players to break on them which also worked but we just didn't get the goals we deserved.

"That's something we can work on in training where the lads can score for fun but we've got to start taking our chances in matches."

Relegated last year, Wrexham are currently fifth in the Third Division.

And while Tait expects a stern test, he remains confident his side can get something from the game.

"They are a very good side, as their league position shows," said Tait.

"It's going to be a very tough game but I think we've proved that we can compete with any team in this division. We just need to start putting our chances away.

"We have to try to take the edge off whatever they come at us with.

"They are an attacking side but I think we have the players to deal with it.

"We've got to play good football, break at the right times and most of all when we get these chances we've got to put the ball in the back of the net.

Defender Stuart Whitehead is still struggling with a stomach injury although Tait hopes to include the former Carlisle man, who played through the pain barrier at Rushden a week ago.

"Stuart is still feeling pretty sore after last week so we'll just have to wait and see," said Tait.

"He wants to play and hopefully if he's not in too much pain we'll be able to include him."

Graham Fenton and Paul Campbell are both back in contention having played a half each at Blackburn on Wednesday.

Striker Danny Mellanby is still out with a troublesome back injury which has so far restricted him to just three appearances this season.

Former Sunderland boss Denis Smith, now in charge at the Racecourse Ground has a fully fit squad to choose from as Steve Roberts, Jim Whitley, Andy Morrell and Lee Jones all return from injury.

Having beaten Quakers in the league this season, Smith believes his side have the upper-hand.

"We played well against them before, we are doing okay at the moment and we want to keep that form going." said Smith.

"They have a new man in charge and all the reports I have been getting about them would suggest we will be facing a team that's playing well, without getting the rewards.

"Reports confirm they were very unlucky to lose at Rushden."

* Hull City's final game at Boothferry Park will be against Quakers on December 14. Due to the anticipated demand for tickets the game is an all-ticket affair.

Quakers have been allocated just 468 seats in the ground's West Stand on police advice. There will be no terracing available at all.

As a special concession for this game the ticket prices for Darlington supporters will be £12 for adults and £6 for concessions.

Read more about the Quakers here.