Scott Parker wants Fulham to make their mark at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
The draw for the Fourth Round of the Emirates FA Cup could hardly have been trickier, with Manchester City the holders of the competition after beating Watford 6-0 at Wembley last May.
But Parker is keen to see his players stand up to the challenge.
“The main message from me to my players is go there with big courage and big heart, and a determination,” he said.
“If you go to places like the Etihad and play against teams like Man City with no real conviction and don’t try to put your stamp on the game, nine times out of 10 you roll out of there with a loss.
“Let’s go there with courage, let’s have a belief about us, and let’s try and put our stamp on it.
“Of course the challenge ahead is going to be very big, we know that, because they’re a very good side, a world class team.”
Aside from the long-term injury to Leroy Sane, Pep Guardiola’s side appear to have a clean bill of health for the tie – quite the opposite to the situation at Fulham, which will dictate to an extent Parker’s team selection.
“They’ve got a lot of games and they’re in a lot of competitions, but whoever Pep decides to use, you’re going to see an international player and a very strong team,” Parker stated.
“Nothing changes too much for them, and we realise the quality of player and the challenge ahead of us.
“We have a few injuries and we’re down to the bones in that sense. We have a considerable amount of injuries so we’ll field a team of fit players.
“We haven’t got much room to change too much around. It’s a big game for us, a different challenge to what we’re used to, and we’re looking forward to it.”
