PLYMOUTH Argyle head coach Miron Muslic has admitted his side faces the ultimate challenge as they prepare to tackle Manchester City in the fifth round of the Emirates FA Cup tomorrow (5.45pm).

Having already seen off Premier League opposition in the form of Brentford and Liverpool already this season, the Pilgrims now have their sights on pulling off another major shock against Pep Guardiola’s star-studded squad at the Etihad Stadium.

Muslic acknowledged that the task ahead is significant, both for himself and his players, but equally it’s just rewards for their efforts in the previous rounds.

“We see this game as a reward of what we did just a couple of weeks ago against Liverpool,” he said. “If you see what’s coming then you know it can’t get bigger. It’s Manchester City, it’s away, the team which has dominated the Premier League for the last seven or eight years, so it truly feels like something very, very big.

“We are going to enjoy this. We said it also before Liverpool, it’s a big stage to represent Argyle in the best possible way. We see this as a massive opportunity to do exactly the same.

“It’s a big game for us as staff, it’s a big game for the players, but it’s a big game also for us as an organisation, and a wonderful one, I think, for the Green Army.”

Muslic admitted at his pre-game press conference that he had taken the opportunity to study City in their midweek encounter with Tottenham Hotspur and, not surprisingly, he was mightily impressed by what he saw on offer from Guardiola’s side.

He said: "Of course we have a plan to challenge Manchester City, don't get us wrong. That's a competition, it's a game and everything can happen.

“I watched the game versus Tottenham and especially the first 45 minutes it was an outstanding performance of Manchester City. I don’t think I exaggerate if they could have a lead of four-zero maybe. This is just the crème de la crème of English football. The highest mountain to climb but it's just a beautiful adventure and we are very much looking forward to challenge them.”

Muslic continued: “Everyone was speaking about Liverpool before and no-one thought we were going to have a chance to survive out there, but our performance regardless of the result gave us a big confidence boost.

“We are believing more in us, we are believing more in what we are doing, we saw that we can not only enjoy to defend we can also be structured in our defending.

“Regardless of the result on Saturday night I want to see another step in terms of our structure because we are preparing this team not only to be competitive against Manchester City - that’s a once in a lifetime experience - we are preparing for the last 12 (Championship) games. It’s a very busy period but we love to play, to play, to play so we can prove ourselves.”

Argyle will go into the game missing strikers Ryan Hardie and Muhamed Tijani, the latter of whom has suffered a recurrence of the hamstring injury which has kept him sidelined for the much of the season. Club captain Joe Edwards and defender Julio Pleguezuelo - who signed a new deal keeping him at Home Park until 2027 - are both included in the travelling squad.