The Wembley 99 hero turned Academy coach admits his U18 Premier League leading team will be favourites against the Villans and wants them to produce a performance which reflects that.
That’s not merely because of the high standards he sets.
Taylor is anticipating the Midlands outfit will be more adventurous than the Swansea side we beat in the third round and says City will need to be at our best to avoid a cup upset at the Academy Stadium on Wednesday evening (kick-off 7pm).
“It will be a tough game,” he said.
“We’ll be the favourites again. We have to live with that, we have to deal with that and we have to respect that.
“I would expect them to have more of a go than Swansea, but who knows? You can never tell.
“They’ve got some dangerous players, and they are a dangerous team. They could press high or they could drop off and try and play on the counter-attack.
“Whatever it is, we need to be prepared for it. We want to dominate and impose our game on them, with and without the ball.”
Taylor will be able to call upon much of the same squad that beat Swansea 3-0 to reach this stage, though there will be a change in goal as young James Trafford has picked up an injury.
Gavin Bazunu and Cieran Slicker are in line to replace him, but City will again be without centre-forward Liam Delap and the game comes too soon for the fit-again Joe Hodge.
The Academy boss felt there was room for improvement after the victory over the Swans and ahead of the latest test he is keen to ensure his players do the simple things well, believing that will be a platform for a good performance.
“We need to appreciate and respect the fundamentals of the game,” he added. “They’ll be important.
“It’s a one-off game, so it’s really important to be right mentally, physically and with our attitude when that whistle blows, because if not, we’ve seen a lot of teams lose and go out in games they could have won.
“A lot of the work we have done has been around the simple things we do, with and without the ball, so that we don’t become one of those cautionary tales.”
Manchester City U18s host Aston Villa U18s in the FA Youth Cup fourth round at 7pm on Wednesday 15 January and tickets for the Academy Stadium are available to buy online.
