Sean Morrison has defended Cardiff’s style of football after Pep Guardiola suggested they “play a lot of long balls”.

Neil Warnock’s Sky Bet Championship high-fliers entertain Manchester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

City manager Guardiola did his homework on Cardiff when he saw them win their third-round replay at Mansfield, and has told his runaway Premier League leaders to expect a direct approach in the Welsh capital.

But Cardiff captain Morrison said: “I don’t think we are a long-ball team. We like to play high up the pitch and we don’t dilly-dally on the ball.

“We don’t pass the ball through the lines as much as some teams, pass the ball around the back four or play possession football as much.

“We like to get the ball forward and play from there. But I wouldn’t call us a long-ball team, even if we are more direct that the teams they are used to playing.

“Just because we don’t play a possession game, where we try to keep the ball for 60 per cent of the time, doesn’t make us a long-ball team.

“We don’t get credit for breaking teams down in their own half.”

Cardiff are third in the Championship and hoping to return to the Premier League where they had a one-season stop in 2013-2014.

During that campaign Cardiff beat Manuel Pellegrini’s City 3-2 at home – and Morrison hopes to see the Bluebirds involved in this sort of fixture on a regular basis.

“Maybe this can propel our season and get us into the automatic promotion places,” Morrison said.

“It is a nice test for us because if we get promotion we will be coming up against sides like Man City next season.

“The way they play is fantastic to watch and is going to be hard to deal with, but it is a nice game to have.

“There is no pressure on us, and if we really at it and we catch them on a bit of an off-day then we have every chance.”

Manchester City resume their Champions League campaign next month and are still in the hunt for an unprecedented quadruple after reaching the Carabao Cup final in midweek.

Guardiola’s side set up a Wembley final date with Arsenal by beating Cardiff’s Championship rivals Bristol City 5-3 over two legs.

“We can take a lot from the way Bristol City played against them because it lets us know we can give them a good game if we can get our game plan right,” Morrison said.

“The gaps are obviously there because they are used to playing in the Champions League and we are in the Championship.

“But all of us are aspiring to be Premier League players and it will be nice to show people that the gap isn’t as big as some think it is.”