I was in the dressing room as Salford gave Manchester City a scare

It is half-time in the away dressing room at the Etihad Stadium and Karl Robinson and his Salford City players are stunned.

They should be drawing with the might of Manchester City. They could be ahead, they have had the best chances in this FA Cup fourth-round tie.

A corner came in and there was Brandon Cooper at the far post, unmarked. He headed wide. The defender knows he should have scored and is big enough to apologise as he walks into the dressing room. “You can’t change it,” Robinson says, reassuring him.

“Heart-rate down. Calm. Calm. Calm,” Robinson tells the players, having checked the chance again on a laptop. It was a good one and the Salford head coach winces. It was that close.

In the side room, Robinson and his staff go through a few clips to show the players and consult on the key messages. He calls for quiet and he and Alex Bruce, the first-team coach, run through what they want before addressing the squad.

“I told you before: fire and ice,” Robinson says. “The desire and the appetite to go and win. If belief stays calm. If belief means you are going to work hard you may nick something. But so might they because I respect them and you have to respect them.

“But the way you conducted yourself after conceding early was incredible. Now he [Pep Guardiola] will change something. It will be a rotation, it will be something in the first 15 minutes. But if you keep in your shape and that shape stays compact and high they will just rotate and they will come on to you anyway.”

There is a pause. “Can I just say one more thing,” Robinson says. “We are here on a journey so how about let’s enjoy it. You have 50 more minutes to enjoy a wonderful experience.”

The Salford players go back out with Bruce cajoling them. “Believe. 0-0 again. Concentration levels. Straight into them,” he says. They create three more chances – two for Kelly N’Mai and another for Ryan Graydon, who is proving a handful, and may have earned a penalty had there been VAR. Salford are growing into the contest. It is a contest.

In the technical area, Guardiola was not happy; he later criticised his own team for a “boring” game. Robinson and Salford can wear that as a badge of honour as they also can the fact that Guardiola had to make changes – bringing on Antoine Semenyo, Marc Guéhi and Nico O’Reilly – to provide fresh impetus – and then Rodri. Guéhi scores late on and, finally, Salford are beaten.

Salford City granted Telegraph Sport exclusive access, along with the build-up, for the Cup tie.

Friday, 10am

Robinson, speaking to his players at Salford’s training ground, spells out what it is like to face City. “We have trained all week 13 v 11 to challenge our shape because it is going to feel like they have 13 players,” he says, standing in the large first-floor hall that serves as both a canteen and a team meeting room.

The messages, as Robinson runs through some video footage, are simple. “Be compact. When we are compact we are confident. Remember that on Saturday,” he says. “Don’t let a moment of genius control your emotions. If you do you will get wrapped up in it.”

Salford train at Littleton Road, where Manchester United used to train before moving to Carrington. United still own the facility – it is branded in their colours and bears their name – but it is leased to Salford. At Robinson’s team meeting, he introduces an addition to his coaching staff: Steve Agnew. It is his first day.

“Steve brings a wealth of experience and has worked at the top level to add to what we have got already. It’s a statement of intent from the football club,” Robinson says of the 60-year-old former Premier League midfielder, whose coaching career includes Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Middlesbrough and Hull City.

“Plus Steve is starting now as he wants to get off to a winning start,” he adds before the kicker: “I wanted him to start today so I could blame him tomorrow.”

There is one detail. Salford expect John Stones, who was back on the bench for City’s midweek win over Fulham, to start. The 31-year-old has missed the last 19 games with a thigh injury so will be short of match fitness. Their intel proves accurate as Stones is in City’s XI.

“We are going to put one or two things behind him early on. We have got to keep him running as he has been out for a long time,” Robinson says. That message is directed at Graydon, who has made a big impact since signing from Fleetwood in January. The 6ft 2in Irishman has, Robinson later says, “Premier League physical data”.

Even so, the plan is to only use Graydon for 60 minutes – although, in the event, that goes out the window. Graydon, who makes it tough for Stones and occupies the City defence, plays almost the entire match.

Other key players – including Kadeem Harris and Haji Mnoga – are left out. Salford have a league match on Tuesday, at home to Newport County, and promotion is far more important than a cup run.

“Warm-ups, boxes, small-sided game. I will then take the 10 for some in-possession work,” Robinson says. “Then you are done for the day.”

11am

It is bitterly cold and windy. It feels like minus five on the training ground. The coaches must keep the players moving and the 24-man squad divides into three teams of eight – blues, reds and purples – for some short, sharp games. “There is going to be a forfeit,” Robinson bellows. “Cold shower. Spray with a hose,” shouts back veteran goalkeeper Mark Howard. Remember that “feels like” temperature.

Robinson steps away. “Tuesday, Wednesday we worked on shape,” he says. “Today needs to be a bit more fun.”

While they play, Robinson goes to the next pitch and sets out the discs ready for his session with the starting XI. As he returns, it is bad news for the red team, who have finished last.

Cooper picks the so-called “worst” player. “After long consideration,” he says. “It is Garbs [captain Luke Garbutt] who is going to get the shower.” He picks his fellow defender, who goes on to be man-of-the-match against City. There is a loud cheer.

“Right,” Robinson says to the starting 10 outfield players before lightening the mood further by adding: “We are going to enjoy the ball – as you might not touch it much tomorrow.”

Soon enough, though, it is serious. “Take care! Calm! Take care!” Robinson shouts during an attacking phase. “Detail! Do not make a mistake, otherwise you will be chasing for hours on end!”

He makes the pitch even more compact, drawing the players in. “Trust me,” he says. “They will squeeze and squeeze and squeeze and have you here!” He points to the space in behind. “They hold a high line all the time.”

Robinson is an experienced coach as well as an attacking one who wants his teams to entertain. But he is also competitive and knows another heavy loss to City will knock confidence. Instead he intends to use the prestige tie as a springboard for the final 17 league fixtures with Salford sixth in League Two – with games in hand.

Having gained four promotions in five years, Salford have been in League Two since 2019 but have not lost their desire to be the “best small club in the world” and aim for the Premier League.

Robinson has helped fuel that ambition. When he arrived two years ago Salford were heading in the wrong direction. They faced relegation and since then he has saved them, finishing eighth last season, transforming their style of play and with that goal of going up this time round. Later in the day it is announced that Robinson has agreed a new contract.

Saturday, 12pm

Salford meet for lunch at Hotel Football, the venue next to Old Trafford part-owned by United’s “Class of 92”.

At 12.15pm Bruce and Paul Gerrard, the goalkeeping coach, go through the set-pieces with Robinson absent, believing he should empower his staff to get on with it. The players do not always need to hear his voice.

News spreads that the City players are being given three days off after the Cup tie. “Hopefully a few will have gone away already,” Robinson says, laughing. In the event only Erling Haaland and Bernardo Silva are left out of the squad by Guardiola and even then they are pitchside during the warm-up.

The detailed work has been done for Salford. On Thursday and Friday, Robinson went over what his plan is. “Once we get to the stadium I do another one, in reduced form,” he explains.

12.25pm

Players board the team bus. An hour later they are in the away dressing room where the music soon starts pumping.

There is a table laden with sweets and high-energy treats – Haribo and Jaffa Cakes. There are energy gels and GPS trackers lined up below a huge flatscreen TV.

Another large screen is hooked up to a Salford laptop and sits above a big metal case into which it will be lowered later. On the wall are print-outs of all the set-piece routines, with midfielder Ben Woodburn studying them as his GPS tracker is fitted.

1.45pm

Robinson gives another brief team talk, reinforcing his tactical points before the music booms out again with a remix of Bonnie Tyler’s 1980s hit Total Eclipse of the Heart.

Pep Lijnders, Guardiola’s assistant, tells Robinson that the City manager would like to host him and his staff in his office after the game. It is the fourth cup tie Robinson has had against Guardiola and the two get on. Robinson once pushed City in a League Cup quarter-final, before losing 3-1, when he was manager of Oxford United. At that time it was the most shots on target that any Guardiola team had faced. And Oxford were in League One.

2.45pm

Players are back in after their warm-up. Matty Young is covered in sweat and grass stains with Agnew going over to speak to him. “You have the world at your feet. Follow [Jordan] Pickford all the way,” he says to the 19-year-old goalkeeper, who is on loan from Sunderland, where the England goalkeeper also started his career.

Agnew is too modest to add that he was assistant at Middlesbrough the last time City lost an FA Cup tie at home – 17 games ago, in 2015.

Bruce’s voice can be heard again. “Don’t give them too much respect. Get right into them. First challenge – set your marker down!” he says before Robinson adds: “Get your boots on. I don’t want anything rushed. Either in here or on the pitch!”

On the TV screen there are bullet points, reminders for the players: organise the press early; stay compact when defending; aggressive in wide areas. And so on. The final one reads: “enjoy the occasion”.

“Enjoy the challenge,” Bruce adds. “And by the way if a challenge is there to win, you win it. Let’s go and make it a cup tie.”

The buzzer sounds for the players to walk out to the tunnel, but first, Robinson gives one last speech. “From our perspective all the delivery is done. It’s within you now,” he says. “I said to you yesterday the only thing you can get wrong today is letting yourself down. The scoreline will take care of itself.

“I’m asking you, do the best version of you and that will always be enough for us. Regardless of the scoreline you stay connected to who you are. That’s you being you and I can live with that. Just don’t change. Don’t go away from the game plan. You do that and you win. Our game. That’s all I am after today. Win the game we want to play.”

Robinson adds: “We have been saying fire and ice. Yes, the desire to press and keep your shape and slide. But on the turnover the calmness to find a white shirt.”

5.06pm

The tie is over. The Salford players have earned the right to stay on the pitch for five minutes after the final whistle, applauding the crowd. It has been some performance. Shirts have been swapped and, despite the loss, there is clearly a huge amount of pride – tinged with a little regret. “We had the chances,” Gerrard, the former Oldham Athletic and Everton goalkeeper, mutters under his breath as the players slowly change and get ready to leave while the kit men clear up the dressing room.

Before that, Robinson sits on a large metal box. It is already time for him to move on, too. Despite the occasion, interest and opponent, the league is and always has been the priority. “We’ve come here and shown the best version of us in a slightly different way than we would on a weekly basis in the league,” he says.

“I asked you before the game what I expected, what game did I want to win today. I want to win that game with ourselves.

“Games sometimes get determined by the quality of the opposition or human error, a moment of brilliance. What we can control is how hard we work, how we stick to the game plan, how we stick to our shape and then I expect your quality to override certain teams – especially at our level.

“You won the game I was looking for. If anything your confidence levels now should be here [points above his head]. It should be there [he points again].”

He had already scheduled a team meeting for Sunday.

“When I get you into the meeting tomorrow – that meeting was put in just in case the result wasn’t… was like last year and that was in my thought process,” Robinson admits.

“You have to beat Newport on Tuesday. That has got to be our mentality switch. To be a ruthless, aggressive group of men. Challenge ourselves week-in, week-out. That is our job. And that together will be enough come the summer.

“We have come such a long way. Three [more] months and we can achieve something. I am asking for every bit of you. I am asking. But equally you have to demand from each other; everything now until the end of the season. Training, playing, recovering. Be ruthless in that. Well done today and I will see you tomorrow at 10.30am.”

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