With the league season well underway and the autumn air adopting an icy edge, attentions turn once more to the magic of cup competitions.

And teams lower down the pyramid in the women’s domestic game now have their selected foes for the second round of the SSE Women’s FA Cup.

Forty-eight sides will battle it out for a place in the famed third round, with ties set to be played on Sunday December 3.

Reading stars Mary Earps and Harriet Scott performed Monday’s draw at SSE’s offices in the Berkshire town, and despite the Royals not entering the draw until the fourth round, Scott is chomping at the bit to play in the tournament.

“It’s a fantastic competition to be involved in,” said the Republic of Ireland international. “I can’t wait until we enter it a little bit further down the line. It’s great for all these teams to be involved with it now.

“We’ve actually never got far enough to be competing in the latter stages – that’s something that we want to achive this year.

“The best thing about the Cup is that it’s not about form or who has the best players, it’s about who shows up on the day and who wants it more.”

Goalkeeper Earps starred in Reading’s last-16 clash with Manchester City in last year’s competition, but was eventually beaten by Lucy Bronze’s late header.

But this has done nothing to tarnish the allure of the competition for the England stopper.

“It always means that little bit more and now you’ve got that incentive of playing at Wembley, it’s just a fantastic occasion.

“Everything knows what is on the line and they want to do as much as they can in the competition.”

Last year’s final drew more than 35,000 to Wembley to see Manchester City’s 4-1 victory over Birmingham City – a record crowd for a domestic women’s game in England.

The current draw sees teams from FA WPL Northern and Southern divisions and below competing, with higher ranked sides set to join them in later rounds.

Jane Bednall, chief marketing officer for SSE Retail, said the competition encapsulated the wide appeal of cup football from the top to the bottom of the women’s game.

“It’s been brilliant to have Harriet and Mary with us for the draw,” she said.

“The SSE Women’s FA Cup is such a special competition for us – not only do we sponsor the game from grass roots to the wonderful elite level, but there’s a final that everyone can be involved with.

“It’s really important for us that everyone can participate.

“We’re immensely proud to be involved with the FA, they’ve been great partners and together in the last year we’ve launched the SSE Wildcats, where we get young girls playing football and giving them the chance they wouldn’t normally have to play the game.

“So far this year, we’ve had 5,000 girls participating over 200 clubs – an amazing achievement for the first year of the programme and we’re very proud of that.”

Tickets are now on sale for the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final on Saturday 5th May at Wembley Stadium connected by EE. For more information about tickets and what SSE do for women’s football, visit www.sponsorship.sse.com.