Pep Guardiola was asked after the 4-1 win over Bournemouth about the defensive effort his team put in even when the game was already won, and his response said a lot for his discipline: imagine if they hadn't put that effort in!
Manchester City's success has been built on players running and running and running, putting the work in off the ball at every moment in every game to give themselves the best chance of winning just about everything. It has been fundamental to their glut of trophies, and why it will still have stung to see somebody else lift the Carabao Cup on Sunday; even if there are bigger fish to fry, Guardiola wants all of the fish.
Away trips can often be a marker for how a squad can cope with the pressures of a season, spending large amounts of time with their colleagues rather than their friends and family and not enjoying as many of the home comforts available at the £200m training complex in order to ensure they are as fresh as they can be between games. Bristol is the fifth of five long away games in a row.
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So far so decent for Guardiola - especially considering the issues they have had since the World Cup. They beat Arsenal at the Emirates, played well at Forest where they should have won, battled to a draw in Leipzig and then strolled to three points at Bournemouth.
Win against Bristol City and they will be in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup to keep themselves on track to challenge for the three biggest competitions they enter each year. An away test at Championship opposition is ideal to test the hunger that Guardiola still demands from his players.
Kalvin Phillips has to be pushing everyone out of the way to ensure he starts and plays well in this game if he is to have any chance of competing with Rodri in central midfield. It has been a chastening year for Phillips after regularly starring for Leeds in the Premier League, and the swift introduction of January signing Maximo Perrone means Phillips has to look over his shoulder as well as ahead to Rodri.
The game offers another chance for Stefan Ortega to show he can deputise for Ederson, and Julian Alvarez will expect another start after his performance at Bournemouth. Cole Palmer, if fit, needs a performance to remind people why there has been so much excitement around him at the Etihad.
Guardiola may also need some of his more senior stars to turn out though. Kevin De Bruyne was an unused substitute at the weekend after illness and Aymeric Laporte has only just returned to training after the same problem; the FA Cup could offer those two the rhythm needed to start the next Premier League game - a big one against Newcastle at the weekend.
They may not be names that Bristol City fans were expecting to see on the pitch, but if they are called upon they will need to show exactly the same desire that the less senior players do if Guardiola is to rest easy about the hunger in his squad.
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