Cardiff boss Neil Warnock in cheeky dig at Man City chief Pep Guardiola ahead of Premier League clash after aggressive showdown last season
Bad-tempered FA Cup tie between the two clubs in January was remembered for a series of X-rated tackles
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NEIL WARNOCK fired a cheeky dig at Pep Guardiola as the pair go head-to-head again.
The bad-tempered FA Cup tie between Cardiff and Manchester City in January was remembered for a series of X-rated tackles.
Joe Bennett’s lunge on Leroy Sane grabbed the headlines and led to Guardiola calling on referees to give his players more protection.
And Warnock endorsed that sentiment — mainly because he felt one of his players copped it too - saying: “I totally agree with him.
“Sane missed three games but if you watched there was a tackle from Kevin De Bruyne on Jazz Richards that put him out for 17 games.
“So I would say ‘which is the worst’?
“That sounds like a worse tackle than Bennett’s but we didn’t make a song and dance about it.
“There were one or two naughty things we didn’t get and everybody wrote about the one tackle that Benno knows was a disgrace.
“De Bruyne didn’t even get booked but he caught his knee badly and it should have been at least a yellow card.”
City boss Guardiola flatly refused to rise to the bait ahead of today’s clash in South Wales.
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He said: “I’m not going to discuss a game that happened six or seven months ago, the decisions of the referee. I’m not going to play that game.”
But he did tell his team to expect a physical test against the newly-promoted club.
He suggested his call for referees to provide more protection has not been answered, saying: “The way they play, physicality is going to happen.
“The Premier League is physical, not just Cardiff. I realised that when I arrived. Cardiff have a way to play and we have to adapt.
“If we are slow, we’ll have more contact with opponents. If we are smarter, maybe less contact.
“There’s not been one Premier League game when we haven’t had to suffer long balls and throw-ins.
“That’s not a surprise. We’ll play our game and try to show the physicality.”
Guardiola said he did not feel the need to speak with Sane ahead of his rematch with Bennett, who escaped with a booking for that tackle but saw red later in the tie.
He added: “I didn’t speak with him, he’s forgotten it. It’s a new game.”
Warnock fears City will be stewing after their shock 2-1 home defeat to Lyon in the Champions League midweek.
He added: “It’s a blip and might give them a kick up the backside.
“I don’t think it helps us at all. They made a few changes and looked a lot stronger when they put the regulars on in the second half.
“When I watch them I think ‘thank goodness we only play them twice!’”