City walk in boot-steps of legends at The Cliff

Lee Johnson’s side trained at Manchester United’s former training ground, where the Busby Babes, the Class of ’92 and Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1999 Treble-winning team learnt their trade.

The first team have long since moved to Carrington, leaving The Cliff to foster the next generation of players as United’s Football in the Community base.

But for the City coaching team it was a trip down memory lane with Johnson saying: “We are thankful for United allowing us to use The Cliff.

"It’s almost in a time-warp really but what comes with that is the absolute history, the feelings and almost the smells of what that great training facility produced over the years, headed by the great man himself, Sir Alex Ferguson.

“That place is etched in history and when you walk in there you can feel it – it’s humble but the fact you know the players who have been there and the titles they have won should be inspiring for the players.”

One player unable to train at The Cliff was Eros Pisano, who has remained in BS3 for treatment on a thigh injury that will rule him out of selection for up to six weeks.