Salford now better placed to face Man City - Robinson

Salford City head coach Karl Robinson believes his side are in a better place than last season to take on Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in this weekend's FA Cup fourth-round tie.

Robinson, who signed a contract extension with the club on Friday, was in charge of the League Two outfit when they lost 8-0 at the same venue in the FA Cup third round last season.

"We're not at any stage going to say the outcome will be completely different," Robinson told BBC Radio Manchester.

"We hope it's a better scoreline as you'd imagine but I don't think people really appreciate how far this club has come in a 12-month period.

"The difference is, we're going into this game with a lot more respect from the footballing world than maybe last time they've seen us front and centre.

"As a football club, it's another tick in the box and we're really excited about going back there."

Robinson says he has learned from that heavy cup defeat at City last season.

"This time, I just want to make sure we go there and have fun, wear our badge with pride, do our best for the fans, compete in everything we do and then get back to work on Sunday morning and make sure we beat Newport on Tuesday," he said.

The former MK Dons, Charlton and Oxford boss took over at the Greater Manchester side in January 2024 and helped them to an eighth-placed finish last season.

They are sixth in the fourth tier, five points off the automatic promotion places with a game in hand.

The club have not confirmed the length of his new deal.

The Ammies, co-owned by former Manchester United stars Gary Neville and David Beckham, won four promotions in five seasons to reach the Football League in 2019.

Salford City are playing in the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history, having reached the third round for the first time last season.

The last time a side from the fourth division or lower eliminated a team in the top three of the top flight was in February 1971, when Colchester United beat league-leaders Leeds United in the fifth round.

Robinson, ready to try and to challenge history, said: "I think its been a remarkable phase in the club's history and we're under no illusions that the weekend is going to be very hard.

"The outcome is probably going to be quite predictable, certainly to everybody else. I just want to make sure that people know Salford are real. I think we are a football club that people are going to hear an awful lot of for years.

"I think in anything in life, if you can't embrace an opportunity, even if you know the odds are really stacked against you... Is that not what living's all about?

"Really challenge yourself in the most incredible set of circumstances against the greatest players in the world currently. A Ballon d'Or winner, multiple Premier League winners and a manager probably in the top 10 greatest managers of all time."