Pep Guardiola promises not to abandon FA Cup as the pressure rises for Manchester City

Guardiola is facing an increasingly tough task in managing City’s progress through four competitions

Pep Guardiola feels City are well equipped to deal with the challenges they face (Getty)

Pep Guardiola has promised that Manchester City will not abandon the FA Cup in the way that Manuel Pellegrini was forced to.

Guardiola is facing an increasingly tough task in managing City’s progress through four competitions.

His predecessor Pellegrini effectively had to sacrifice the FA Cup two seasons ago in order to maintain a challenge for the Champions League, the League Cup and a top-four Premier League finish.

The Chilean picked a side made up largely of fringe players and academy graduates for a fifth-round tie at Chelsea, played three days before a Champions League away match against Dynamo Kiev, and ended up losing 5-1.

Guardiola said that he understood why Pellegrini made that decision – with City going on to reach the Champions League semi-finals – but feels City are better equipped to focus with the challenges they now face.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager sees an 11-day spell in late February and early March as the defining period of City’s season, when they will face four matches across three competitions.

That run will begin with the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal at Wembley on 25 February, followed by a Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium four days later.

The following Sunday sees a home league match against Chelsea, before the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Swiss champions Basel three days later.

Pep Guardiola believes his team will be able to cope with a testing fixture schedule in the months ahead (Getty)

Should City lose their FA Cup fourth-round tie at Cardiff on Sunday, City will have a clear 12 days next month to prepare for that testing run of games.

But a victory in south Wales will guarantee a fifth-round tie on the weekend of 17 February, a week before the Carabao Cup final.

Guardiola said: “That situation [two seasons ago] was completely different to now. The club tried to speak to the federation [the Football Association] ask for the fixture to move to have one more day to go to Kiev.

“I understood what the club did. But here, the television companies decide the fixtures and we’ll adjust.

“We are going to play the final at Wembley on February 25, and then play on Thursday against Arsenal in the Premier League. Sunday it’s Chelsea, then the Champions League after that.

“We’d prefer more time but we are in four competitions and we have to adapt. That’s not going to change.

Guardiola accepted that very little can be done about the current fixture schedule (Getty)

“I have given my opinion on the fixtures and the rules but nothing will change and we have to adapt.

“Sometimes you have one more day to prepare for a game, and sometimes you have one day fewer, because television decides.”

City remain hopeful of signing defender Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao for a club-record fee of £57m, but Guardiola refused to give a public update on the transfer.

He said: “No, I can’t. He’s player for Athletic Bilbao. If it happens, it happens. If not, then it doesn’t.

“We will try to do the best for the squad, for now, for the next six months, and for the years to come.

“If we can going to do something interesting now, we’ll do it now. If not, then we’ll do it in the summer. If not in the summer, we’ll stick with the guys who’ve done amazingly.”