" NEIL WARNOCK: FANS DESERVE MANCHESTER CITY MATCH "
Wednesday 17th January 2018
By Chris Wathan
Neil Warnock has insisted Manchester City are the best team in the world – but taking on Sheffield Wednesday is Cardiff’s biggest game of the season.
The former Sheffield United boss – and boyhood Blade – wouldn’t have it any other way, even after his Bluebirds set up a home showdown with Pep Guardiola’s men after seeing off Mansfield 4-1 at Field Mill in a third round replay.
And he’s trying to finalise a deal to land a second signing of the January window ahead of the trip to his old rivals at Hillsborough.
But Warnock did concede that the reward of the visit of the Premier League leaders next weekend is deserved for the efforts at Mansfield, and is looking forward to going up against Guardiola who made a surprise visit to the League Two ground.
“I might buy some wine for when he comes, but I’ll drink it myself,” smiled Warnock after the win. “He’ll know what he can expect from us, he’s not daft, it’ll be like me playing against Mansfield. “We’ll be up for it and I’d be disappointed if it’s not a full house and hopefully we can have a look at how Liverpool did it.
“It’s a fabulous reward and it will be a tough test for us, but you’ve got to beat these teams if you want to win the cup!
“Listen, they’re probably the best team in the world at the moment; the fans deserve it and Vincent because he’s put a lot in this season, but Mehmet has talked about banning him because we’ve lost the last three games he’s been!
“But we can’t lose whatever the result. If the draw had been different, we probably would have got knocked out, but I decided to put almost a full team out.
“We showed a great attitude and in the second-half we got on the front foot and we were much better.
“It was hard – we were up against a team that’s only lost once in 20-odd games and that’s tough no matter what division they’re in.
It’s a great reward now, but let’s concentrate on the biggest match of the season – Sheffield Wednesday away. Well, it certainly is for me with my roots!”
Warnock is trying to tie up a signing he’s described as “important” ahead of that televised game. The veteran boss has already landed one new arrival after the loan capture of Yanic Wildschut, who was ineligible for this game having featured for Norwich.
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