Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola won't play 'his kids', warns wary Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou ahead of Carabao Cup clash

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou knows how tough tonight's Carabao Cup fourth-round tie at home to Manchester City will be, despite previous remarks from Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola has repeatedly stated this season that City would not waste energy on the competition and during the 2-1 win over Watford last month played five academy graduates, which included Phil Foden and Rico Lewis.

Postecoglou is fully aware if Spurs want to progress to the quarter-finals then they must be at their best.

He said: "If you look at Pep in this comp, he has always pretty heavily rotated and they won four in a row didn’t they?

"He’s not playing his kids. No disrespect to Pep’s kids! These are good players, they’re at City. They have a pretty good programme. Pedro (Porro) was part of that.

"If you’re part of the City infrastructure, you’re a good player. We’re expecting a tough game, but irrespective of who they put out, we want to win. We want to stay in this competition and put in a strong performance."

Tuesday was familiar territory for Postecoglou, who has continuously faced questions about Tottenham’s 16-year trophy drought since his 2023 appointment.

The 59-year-old has been consistent in his belief that cup success will not guarantee a prosperous future and pointed to Erik ten Hag’s dismissal from Manchester United on Monday as further evidence.

"Everyone tells me, just win a trophy and you'll be fine. I don’t think so"

"You can’t guarantee success. No-one can, but you can put yourself in a position," Postecoglou insisted.

"If you can put yourself in a position in the league on a consistent basis, I think by extension you should be strong in the knock-out comps. That’s still where I think our most meaningful progress lies.

"Winning a comp. Is it a