Manchester [UK], January 10 : Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola is looking forward to their upcoming FA Cup clash against Salford and assured that 'Blues' will take up the challenge "seriously."
On Saturday, Manchester City will face Salford for the first time in the club's history. Even though both clubs are facing each other for the first time, Guardiola has encountered Salford boss Karl Robinson before.
When Robinson was in charge of Oxford, his side gave a tough time to Guardiola and his men in the Carabao Cup in 2018 and the following year.
With Guardiola set to compete against his "hometown," he is aware of the high intensity that Robinson's side plays with.
"I've lived in Salford for the last eight years, so I will be playing against my neighbourhood, my hometown. I have a lot of respect for the manager, we played years ago at Oxford and when he was assistant to Sam Allardyce at Leeds," he told a news conference on Friday, as quoted from the club's official website.
"The last six games, six clean sheets and six victories, so I have huge respect for them and what they do, the intensity and we will take it seriously like we always have done. Hopefully, we can do a good game and make it three wins in a row - it's a long time since it happened," he added.
The Spaniard also offered an update about the availability of Ruben Dias and Oscar Bobb for their upcoming match. Dias has been serving time on the sidelines with an injury since the Manchester derby on December 15.
On the other hand, Bobb was ruled out of the first period of the campaign with a leg injury days before the Premier League began.
As anticipation builds around the duo's return, Guardiola confirmed that the duo is not ready to return back to the on-field action.
"Not yet. He (Dias) feels better but not ready. I don't know when. [Bobb is] training with the team partially. That's good news for us. It was a fractured bone. Now that is healed, he's fine but good news is he's back," he said.
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