Burton's players will come through their Carabao Cup first leg humiliation unscathed, according to a former Huddersfield defender who knows exactly how it feels.

Nigel Clough's side will bid to restore hurt pride in the return leg of their semi-final against Manchester City on Wednesday night having lost 9-0 at the Etihad Stadium a fortnight ago.

Malcolm Brown can empathise. He was Huddersfield's right-back when they were thrashed 10-1 by City in the old Second Division in 1987 and the 62-year-old thinks Burton will soon bounce back.

"They will be gutted the tie is over and they haven't got a great deal to play for now," Brown told Press Association Sport.

"But I don't think there will be any lasting damage. City are one of the best sides in Europe at the moment and have some wonderful, world-class players.

"Given time Burton's players will reflect on that so I don't see how it can damage their confidence too much."

Brown, who made more than 400 appearances during two spells for Huddersfield before he moved on to Rochdale in 1989, feels Burton still have plenty to play for.

"The tie is dead and buried, of course it is, but professional pride will kick in and they will do all they can to make sure it's a good game.

"They'll want some kind of result to salvage something, something to cling on to for the rest of their season.

"I watched the first leg and I thought nine – and it sounds ridiculous – but it flattered City on the night.

"I think Nigel will just tell them to forget it. It was a one-off. Just go out and give everything for the fans, that's all they can do."

Former England and Newcastle striker Malcolm Macdonald was in charge of Huddersfield when Mel Machin's City went one better than Pep Guardiola's and notched double figures 32 years ago.

City trio Tony Adcock, Paul Stewart and David White all scored hat-tricks, but Brown insists that too was a freak result.

"We proved it was because two months later we played them in the FA Cup and took them to a replay at Maine Road," Brown recalled.

Following a 2-2 draw – the initial tie had ended goalless – City won the second replay 3-0, but the Terriers gained revenge with a 1-0 home win at the end of that season.

"Shortly after we'd lost 10-1 we came back in from training and the FA Cup third-round draw had just been announced.

"It was funny. We got City. What were the chances of that?

"But that 10-1 was mad. Every time they got near our box they picked the right pass and buried it. It was just one of those things."