Chester FC manager Steve Burr is hoping his side can repeat last season's FA Cup exploits and enable him to strengthen his ranks.
The Blues earned in excess of £100,000 from four games in the competition last term and head to Altrincham on Saturday (3pm) in the fourth qualifying round with the victors going through to the first round proper.
Burr has one of the smallest squads in the National League and feels injuries to the likes of Craig Mahon, Luke George and Ross Hannah and Luke George have been in a factor in an up-and-down season.
And another good run would bring in valuable funds that can be used to improve the depth of his squad for the back end of the campaign.
"It was a big help last year with the finances we brought into the club and it allowed us to go and strengthen the side in the January transfer window with some good loans and signing one or two players," said Burr, whose team go to Moss Lane following back-to-back wins over Southport and FC Halifax Town.
"It's important again for us to go on another journey like that financially but the FA Cup puts the spotlight on you in a national stage.
"We had a tremendous run and it was a great experience, it always is for players, managers and fans alike.
"We had two poor results against Altrincham last year so we want to address that. We'll do our homework on Alty and get ourselves right because there's still a lot of areas that we need to improve on.
"We've had two good results but the performances over the 90 minutes need to be a lot better and that's something we're working on.
"The pleasing thing was that we got two wins and we're always looking to improve so hopefully we can do that again on Saturday and get ourselves in the first round."
George 'almost there' and ready for comeback
Chester will be without on-loan forward James Roberts because parent club Oxford United don't want the 19-year-old cup-tied, although he wouldn't have been involved anyway owing to a pulled hamstring.
George, who has missed the last 10 games, is the only other concern with the ex-Southport midfielder on the verge of a return, but Burr won't take a chance unless convinced over his fitness.
"He's got a slight strain on his calf and with him being so close we don't want any setbacks that keep him for a longer period of time," said Burr.
"We'll see how he is but it's great that he's almost there and ready to be back because we've missed him and I know how frustrated the lad has been so the sooner we get him back the better.
"We've got one or two little bumps or bruises from the Halifax game but nothing really serious and we go into the game fit and ready to have a good crack at the FA Cup."
