Salford City boss Karl Robinson was overjoyed with his team’s performance in their 2-0 FA Cup defeat to seven-time winners Manchester City.
Robinson, who extended his contract at the League Two club on the eve of Salford’s trip to the Etihad Stadium, had promised travelling Ammies fans a “different” performance from their 8-0 loss to Pep Guardiola’s men last season.
Having guided Salford to the fourth round for the first time in the club’s 86-year history, he had previously said the team’s response to inevitable defeat at the hands of the Premier League title challengers would be as important as their on-pitch performance.
But, after watching on from the touchline as his side went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in Britain for eighty minutes, Robinson said the narrow loss could be a “benchmark” to build on as the club challenges for promotion from League Two.
He said: “The way we have lost today was a testament to our players.
“We are in training tomorrow because I was going to massage their egos and get them back going again after a heavy defeat.
“But now it is about going into tomorrow and focusing on the games we have got left in our League campaign.
“We have to get out of League Two. We believe we have a good enough team to do that. We have games in hand over some of the teams we are competing with, but we are going to be playing every Saturday and Tuesday. We are looking forward to the challenge.
Asked how the players expected to refocus for a vastly different game against struggling Newport County, Robinson said “professional athletes” should want to win the same amount, no matter the opponent.
He added: “You should want to win everything that you do, when they come in on Monday morning, they should want to win their five-a-sides.
“It’s going to be hard, you’re playing in this wonderful stadium with thousands and thousands of people against some of the best players in the world, and that won’t be the case on Tuesday evening, and we have to focus on getting the three points.”
While opposing manager Pep Guardiola praised Salford’s “resilience,” he was blunt in describing how Robinson’s tactics made the game “boring.”
Robinson laughed when told Guardiola’s response to his set-up and felt it was a necessary to frustrate to avoid a repeat of last season’s 8-0 defeat.
“If we threw numbers forward and didn’t compete, we’d be sat here going: ‘You were too excited, you were too giddy, you asked too many questions, and you were inexperienced,’ to our team.
“I would turn that around and go, what a fantastic defensive performance against one of the best teams in Europe. I would much rather that be the narrative that we take away, that they had to bring on four of the best players in the Premier League with 20 minutes to go. Now, that might have been him being bored with the aspect of his play that he had to make those changes.
Josh Austerfiled and Brandon Cooper missed chances to draw Salford level in the first half after Manchester City had taken a sixth-minute lead through Alfie Dorrington’s own goal.
The Ammies boss rued the missed opportunities and said his team were “the better side” in the first half and unlucky to go into half-time a goal behind.
“We might have had the best chance of the first half and then I think Brandon Cooper had the header from four yards out, but he needed to score. In the second half of the 20 minutes, I thought we were the better team,” he said.
Robinson told Salford Now he was delighted with Salford’s travelling supporters, who turned out in force to back the side at the Etihad.
“Supporters are the most important aspect of our game. I love the fact that we have been able to make our fans proud and they are going to have to stay with us in difficult moments this season, so we thank them and hope to see them on Tuesday night.”
