Pep Guardiola: West Ham 'not an easy one' as Manchester City continue Carabao Cup quest

Pep Guardiola says his Manchester City players are taking nothing for granted when as they continue their quest for a fifth straight Carabao Cup against West Ham United on Wednesday.

City have had a stranglehold on the English cup competition for most of the past decade, winning six of the past eight editions, including the last four in succession.

Tuesday marked five years to the day since they were last eliminated from the competition, but Guardiola is expecting that remarkable record to be put to the test by David Moyes’ Hammers.

“It’s good,” the City boss said. “The League Cup is a tournament in this country and we have done quite well.

“We won it for the fourth time in a row and still we are there.

“We know which team we are going to face – West Ham away – so it is not an easy one.

“At the same time, we are going to prepare to try to win the game like we do any game in any competition.”

Brighton v Man City ratings

West Ham won 1-0 at Manchester United to set up this fourth-round tie against a City side that swatted aside League One outfit Wycombe 6-1 in September.

Guardiola heavily leant on youth in that fixture with the squad stretched but more senior options are available for the trip to the capital.

John Stones, Nathan Ake, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riyad Mahrez are among those pushing to start on Wednesday, plus there is the complication of City’s Under 21s taking on Rotherham in the Papa John’s Trophy on Tuesday.

Raheem Sterling missed Saturday's 4-1 Premier League win at Brighton & Hove Albion with a back issue and there has yet to be an update on his condition.

Ferran Torres remains out with the foot injury he sustained on international duty with Spain earlier this month.

West Ham v Tottenham ratings