Spurs vs City (FA Cup) | Ange’s preview: “These are the games you want to be involved in”

Ange Postecoglou remembers watching Ricky Villa’s wonder goal to win us the FA Cup against Manchester City as a teenager in Australia in 1981 - approaching 43 years later, he’ll lead us out in another potential FA Cup cracker against City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening (8pm UK).

The tie of the fourth round pits us against the holders and last season’s treble winners, live on terrestrial TV (BBC1), a tie between teams determined to get on the front foot and book a place in the fifth round.

Ange is well aware of the history of not only this tie, but the Club’s affinity with the world’s most famous domestic cup competition. “I remember 1981, yes,” Ange told us this week. “There are FA Cups I remember because they go into my teenage years. I remember a great game, really entertaining and a fantastic goal scored by Ricky on the night.

“We’re all looking forward to this one. Look, they’re a fantastic team but irrespective of that, the FA Cup, it’s always a great night, a big game, we’re playing against arguably the best team in the world at the moment, so it’s a great challenge for us, but with it being at home, really exciting.”

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Ange was asked if this was ‘the tie from hell’ or an opportunity to beat the best. He responded: “Neither mate. It's a cup tie. If you go into any cup tie thinking you have some sort of advantage, whether that's against a team in a different division to you or arguably against the best team in the world, you shouldn't have a different attitude to it because the beauty of cups is the upsets they produce.

“They produce upsets because maybe you don't take the same attitude. So, for me, it doesn't matter who we play. Every game is a game where you know there's only one result that will help you advance and that's a win. Irrespective of your opponent, that's what you have to do.

“You respect the fact you're playing a very good opponent and if you've got an opponent of the calibre of Manchester City, if you want to or not, your game has to adjust. It does.

“We know we're going to be at times under stress, we know at times we'll get out-possessed. Irrespective of your strategy, that's going to happen. But, from our perspective, we just continue on trying to build and progress and be the team we want to be.

“I've always said the greatest test is when you play against the best to see where you're at. Not so much in terms of the result, but in terms of how you tackle that. I think we've tackled all these challenges, home and away, against the big teams in a very positive way, and we want to continue that.”