Huddersfield Town beating Manchester City '˜unrealistic but possible' '“ David Wagner

The Terriers host Pep Guardiola’s men tomorrow at a sold-out John Smith’s Stadium as the Yorkshire club look to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in 45 years.

Wagner is the first to admit his side go into the tie as “underdogs” but City, for all their big name players, will surely be wary of the fact Huddersfield have won 12 of their last 14 league and Cup outings.

Klopp’s Liverpool side have already got the better of Guardiola’s men in the Premier League this season courtesy of a 1-0 win at Anfield on New Year’s Eve.

The pair speak most days, but Wagner, a regular at Liverpool home games during his 15 months in England, has no plans to seek advice from Klopp as to how to get the better of the Blues.

“The problem is he is Klopp, and he is manager of Liverpool,” said the Terriers chief. “I am not sure what works for him and Liverpool will make sense for Huddersfield when playing against Manchester City.

“He is, unfortunately, not able to help us. We have spoken about this game, but all he said was ‘good luck’.”

Tomorrow’s fifth-round tie pits against each other two of football’s most illustrious old names.

Before the dawn of the Premier League era, Town and City had collectively won five league titles and reached 13 FA Cup finals, but nowadays the contrasts between the two could not be more marked with the 2008 takeover by Sheikh Mansour having seen more than £1 bn spent on transforming the Blues into one of the European elite.

“There is no doubt we are the underdogs,” said Wagner when asked about taking on a club with an annual wage bill of around £225m. “When Huddersfield Town play Manchester City, is it realistic that we will win this football match? No, it is totally unrealistic.

“But is it possible? Yes, because in football no one knows the result before a game. What we will do is play with total freedom because it is a different competition and we do not have to worry about anything.”

The Cup tie comes amid a hectic schedule for Town, who host Reading next Tuesday in a potentially pivotal clash in the race for promotion. Wagner’s men are also in action the following Tuesday (February 28) at Wolverhampton Wanderers, though this will have to be postponed to accommodate a replay the following night if tomorrow’s fifth-round tie finishes level.

Town have already played four times since the start of this month so Wagner will rotate his squad against City and Reading.

However, when asked if he was desperate to avoid a replay at all costs, the German replied: “If the choice is between losing the game and a rematch then I take a rematch. This means we get a draw.

“I do not want to lose a match to avoid a rematch. That is not my personality. A draw is better than a defeat, and if it is a draw, we take the rematch.”

Wagner, without Aaron Mooy tomorrow against the Australian’s parent club, has rung the changes in both previous FA Cup ties this season with the likes of Joel Coleman, Martin Cranie and Jon Gorenc Stankovioc starting in the victories over Port Vale and Rochdale.

He admits to feeling loyalty towards those who helped Huddersfield reach the fifth round, but added: “On the flipside, we want to win this football match and we make our decisions on how we can do that against a giant, one of the best teams in Europe.”

Guardiola could also make changes with Tuesday’s Champions League round of 16 clash with Monaco in mind.

But Town midfielder Philip Billing hopes boyhood favourite Yaya Toure is not among those left out after returning to the City fold over the past few months.

“We are expecting Manchester City to bring a strong team,” said the 20-year-old.

“It is going to be a really good test for the whole team. We want to test how far we have come this season.

“I am hoping to come up against Yaya Toure, he has been one of the my idols for a long time.

“Since I was a kid and he was at Barcelona, he is someone I have thought to be a really good footballer.

“He has everything and it will be a really good test to come up against him.”

Asked if he planned to ask for Toure’s shirt following the final whistle, Billing replied: “They are all big players, but, when the game is over, it would be great (to get his shirt).

“I won’t do anything differently, though, (during the game) as the bottom line is it doesn’t matter who we are playing against.

“It will be the biggest game of my career and it is a sell-out, the first one for years.

“But I don’t get nervous. I just try and do my best.”