FA Cup: Peterborough must put Championship safety over Man City tie, says Nathan Thompson

Peterborough United defender Nathan Thompson says they must prioritise staying in the Championship over their FA Cup tie with Manchester City.

Posh have been drawn against Pep Guardiola's side in the last 16 of the competition after a 2-0 win over QPR.

It will be only the club's second ever meeting with City - the first ending in a 1-0 fifth-round defeat in 1981.

"It's been a difficult season for us and it gives us something to really look forward to," said Thompson.

"We've got a lot of youngsters in the team and it will be a hell of an experience for them, as well as a shop window.

"To get that sort of exposure for the club, and those young players in the side, will be fantastic.

"It's a welcome distraction but at the same time we know that the priority is to get out of the relegation dogfight that we find ourselves in at the moment."

Peterborough are 22nd in the Championship, two points behind Reading and nine adrift of Cardiff, the teams in the two places immediately above the relegation places.

And Darren Ferguson's side will face both in the league this month.

"We've got a huge couple of weeks coming up against teams that are around us, so it's a positive at the end of the tunnel and something to look forward to," Thompson told BBC Radio 5 live.

"The place will be lifted big time if we win the next couple of games and that's the most important thing."

The 31-year-old missed hearing his team being drawn against the 2019 winners, revealing: "I completely forgot the draw was on - it was only when my phone started pinging like mad that I realised it was a big tie for the club."

He added: "Whenever you're going on the pitch it's important you're winning and that's why you give credit to Man City because, regardless of the competitions they're in, they always field a really strong team, they don't take any competition lightly and you take your hat off to them for that.

"But we need to focus on ourselves and hopefully, if we go into the game picking up points, we can go in with a bit of confidence. On our day we're a very good side and we just need to replicate that on more of a consistent basis."