Unai Emery insists his Aston Villa players must treat Cardiff City like the best team in the world or they could come a cropper against the Championship side in the FA Cup on Friday night.
Villa have the opportunity to progress to the last eight of the competition against a Cardiff side who are battling against the drop to League One this season.
Bluebirds boss Omer Riza admits his side’s lowly league position will force him to name a weakened line-up against Villa, explaining that they have "far more important games coming up."
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“I can understand him because the Championship is a very strong competition and they are more or less struggling and trying to escape off the bottom,” Emery said when asked about Riza's comments.
“Maybe this competition is very demanding for them. But I think tomorrow they will compete, trying to get a good result and trying to surprise us.
“We are going to respect them with what they have done in this competition with the players they have, with the analysis of them we have done.”
Emery added: “We lost here against Stevenage two years ago and you must focus on each match, with respect. What does that mean? To play like you are playing against the best team in the world.
“Always you are trying to be consistent, that is the competitive way I want and the mentality I want to build here.
“If we are thinking it is going to be easy tomorrow, that is when we are starting to lose.
“Of course, respect, show our wishes to win, play trying to get confidence and a good feeling in this competition with our supporters.
“I think we have a lot of challenges tomorrow, not only respecting Cardiff and the competition, it is how we are building the team and trying to create our structure tactically and mentally, stronger.
“We have work to do and I think tomorrow is a very good opportunity to try and play, each player showing their wishes and respect for the competition.
“For us and for me as well it is analysing them and trying to get through our tactical plan a lot of things we will need for the future.”
