Hope springs eternal for minnows

In human terms the gulf between the two sides was summed up by Peter Beagrie, Scunthorpe’s best-known player. ‘‘I thought, oh my god,’’ the former Everton and Manchester City winger admitted.

On paper at least it will require divine intervention for Scunthorpe to pull off what would, given the way the gulf between the Premiership and the lower reaches of the football league has grown in recent years, arguably the greatest FA Cup shocks of all time.

And Beagrie is realistic enough to acknowledge that avoiding humiliation will be the primary objective for Brian Laws’s side. ‘‘Unlike Manchester United or Arsenal, they don’t put in youngsters (for Cup matches) and when they do they are internationals like Joe Cole, so I would be happy to try and keep the score down,’’ the 39-year-old said.

Scunthorpe are not the only club dreaming of emulating Cup giant-killers of the past. Cash-strapped conference side Exeter are Manchester United’s guests at Old Trafford and the west-country club will travel north with 9,000 supporters hoping their side can become the first non-league outfit to beat a Premiership side since the top flight was revamped a little over a decade ago.

‘‘Without sounding too corny, it is 11 men versus 11 on the pitch,’’ Exeter manager Alex Inglethorpe said. ‘‘I’m sure United will have a lot more of the ball of us and create plenty of goalscoring opportunities. But there has to be a chance we could win — otherwise we wouldn’t play the game.’’

Exeter are not the smallest or the lowest-ranked club left in the competition. That honour belongs to Ryman League outfit Yeading, who have been rewarded for getting this far by securing a home tie against Newcastle that will be played at QPR’s Loftus Road ground.

Manager Johnson Hippolyte admits to some regrets that the tie could not be staged at the tiny West London club’s ground, The Warren, for safety reasons.

But he is determined to ensure that there is no sense of what might have been after the match by pledging to stick to Yeading’s established attacking style.