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 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.