Midfielder Bernardo Silva has said that Manchester City cannot afford to under-perform against Preston North End on Tuesday night.

The Premier League champions head into the EFL Cup tie at Deepdale on the back of an 8-0 triumph against Watford at the weekend.

However, with City having sometimes struggled against EFL opposition, Silva has claimed that he and his teammates must be prepared for a difficult test.

The Portuguese is quoted by the Manchester Evening News as saying: "We want to win, but we are away to a team that – I have checked – are doing well this season. People sometimes think games against Championship teams are easy, but they're not.

"In the last two seasons I have played for City, some of the most difficult games we have had were against teams from the Championship, and in our first season we were knocked out of the FA Cup by Wigan from League One. We are not going to relax, we will give our best as usual."

The two North-West clubs are meeting for the first time since 2007.