Burton Albion will need a “miracle” to overcome the might of Premier League champions Manchester City over two legs in the League Cup semifinal according to manager Nigel Clough.
Son of legendary manager Brian Clough, who led Nottingham Forest to win two European Cups, Nigel is no stranger to producing Cup upsets.
Clough was in his first spell in charge when Burton, then in English football’s fifth tier, held a Manchester United boasting Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney 0-0 in the FA Cup in 2006.
Burton has since progressed to the third tier in League One, but Clough believes stopping Pep Guardiola’s City at home on Wednesday night (10 pm), is an even tougher task.
He says: “When Rooney and Ronaldo came on after 59 minutes here, it’s a similar sort of prospect with the quality City have.
“But away from home, it’s a different thing. When they are on their own patch, as you saw against Liverpool, they’re as good and as confident as anything.
“We’ve not gone into any detail with [the players] because that will frighten the life out of them.
“To reach the League Cup semi-final, in some ways the job is done.
“But we still have an outside chance of achieving a miracle, and that’s what we’ll try for.”