Pep Guardiola expects his Manchester City side “to suffer” as they come up against League Two Newport in the FA Cup this weekend.
The City manager insists he will be leaving nothing to chance as the Premier League champions bid to avoid what would be a sensational fifth-round shock at Rodney Parade.
Much has been made of the poor state of the pitch in South Wales, with Guardiola also wary of the physical threat Michael Flynn’s side might pose.
Guardiola said: “They’ve done incredible in this competition. They won against Leicester and Middlesbrough. “What they do, they do it really well.
We’ve watched as many games as possible to understand what they do. We respect them a lot. “We are going to suffer because they are taller and stronger than us.
In some areas, they are better than us. “We have to try to bring our game in the way we are stronger than them. Which team controls these areas, or brings their own game, in that moment will have the advantage to go through.
“If we just expect, because they are in a lower division, it will be easy, we would make a big mistake. “We will take it seriously and we know how tough it will be, from the first minute until the end.”
