Swindon Town’s chief executive is looking forward to tonight’s game against Manchester City as a “great occasion” and believes the revenue from the match will help the club’s bid for sustainability.

Rob Angus estimates the third-round draw against the world-class team could generate between £300,000 and £400,000 before costs. 

Since chairman Clem Morfuni and Angus took over the club in July, they say they have managed to reduce the £4.5m of debt to less than £2.5m.

“It’s a great occasion for the club because we can see where we’ve come from in the summer,” he said.

“It’s great for all the fans and staff who have worked hard to have the chance to work in an amazing game and to see one of the best teams in the world play at the County Ground, with a packed out crowd and being on ITV.

“There will be a substantial boost in revenue which is really positive for us.

He explained: “We obviously have additional costs like police stewarding, extra seats to maintain fans in the Stratton Bank, and getting the stadium ready, so costs will reduce that sum substantially but overall it’s a great boost financially which is really good as we repair the club’s finances.”

Angus estimated that each club would receive £85,000 for the match’s screening on TV and that ticket revenue would add £110,000. 

Commercial advertising and hospitality at the event would also add to the funds.

“It helps us get further back to sustainability although it doesn’t turn things around overnight,” he said.

“Now we just hope to keep the momentum because we’ve been averaging about 8,500 tickets a game which is the highest for 20-odd years for home fans, and we want to get to 10,000 every week. 

“Hopefully the fans attending this game because it’s Man City will come back week in week out and continue to grow the fanbase which we are keen to do.”

Angus suggested the money would be channelled into repaying the debt and improving the training ground as well as strengthening the squad. 

When asked about the fate of his team in tonight’s match, he said: “It’s obviously a big ask, but it was a great performance by the team last week, so to beat the second in the league 5-2 and to come back from 2-1 down gave us great confidence.

“At the end of the day its 11 versus 11 so you can only hope and hope we play out of our skins. Improving the training ground and strengthening the squad."