Chris Lakey Glenn Roeder wants his City side to twist the knife into crisis club Bury when he visits Gigg Lane for the first time tonight.

Chris Lakey

Glenn Roeder wants his City side to twist the knife into crisis club Bury when he visits Gigg Lane for the first time tonight.

The League Two side are in all sorts of trouble after sacking their top brass - manager Chris Casper and director of football Keith Alexander - yesterday after a run of nine games without a win.

The only bright spot in recent weeks was the 1-1 draw at Carrow Road in the third round of the FA Cup earlier this month.

It deservedly earned them a second bite of the cherry - but Roeder says it's time for his rejuvenated Championship outfit to flex their muscles and make Gigg Lane feel like home.

“I don't think the approach and what I say to the players will be any different,” said Roeder. “Whether we are the favourites or we are the underdogs, it will be exactly the same and we have to adopt what we have tried to do away from home recently and play like the home team.

“Since I have said that and made sure we are not so open with two out and out wingers we have had a lot better results away from home, and that's what we will do again on Tuesday.

“We will do everything we can to play as if we are the team that is on top, with the momentum, that is the home side.”

Roeder says the most obvious way to slip on the FA Cup banana skin is from set-pieces - just as they did 10 days ago at Carrow Road.

“I have told the players that wherever there is a cup shock, nine times out of 10 it is achieved on a set play,” he said. “It's about the only time the abilities of the teams can get very close to being the same.

“One good delivery, poor concentration and you lose a goal like we did. I couldn't see them scoring any other way but the players were warned about that on the Friday, warned about that before kick-off - yet the goal we lost was from a set play.

“They have got some tall players and we have to make sure we don't give unnecessary free-kicks and stupid fouls away where they can reach our penalty box.”

Tonight's winners pocket £40,000, and a fourth-round trip to Southampton - and Roeder is determined to ensure it is City who head south on January 26, not Bury.

“I would like to go as far as we can,” he said. “It would be good publicity for the club and the players, good for morale, good for the tills - I can't see anything negative in having a long run in the FA Cup.”