Potter registered one famous win in six matches against City as Brighton boss but the style and approach of his players was often praised by the Catalan, whether in victory or defeat.

It was the same story back in November when City came out on top of a Carabao Cup tie against Potter’s Chelsea, with the two coaches involved in a lengthy and honest debrief following the final whistle at the Etihad on that occasion.

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Potter believes that demonstrates the respect between them and underlines the self-belief that underpins his footballing philosophy, with Guardiola having previously been quoted as saying 'I'm absolutely a big fan of Graham Potter.'

‘It’s not just Pep but other people in the game that have played against my teams and have watched the work that I’ve done, I think there’s a general level of respect,’ said the Chelsea head coach.

‘There certainly is from my perspective to him because he’s a fantastic person but also with everything he’s achieved as a footballer and as a coach, it’s amazing.

‘It was more a general football conversation,’ Potter went on regarding their last meeting. ‘He understands the challenges that we have here because he’s faced similar ones himself. It was just a conversation after a game that you have with football coaches.

‘It’s good that managers can speak because it’s complicated when you’re out there with the emotions and we’re all fighting for the points. Afterwards it’s nice to speak as human beings and talk about the game.

‘We always see Man City as an opportunity to play against one of the best teams in the world. It’s a completely different game to the one we’ve just faced [Nottingham Forest] but obviously very complicated and tough.’

This latest meeting is the first of two encounters in four days between the sides, followed swiftly by Sunday’s FA Cup third round tie at Eastlands, and represents another opportunity for Raheem Sterling to take on his former club team-mates.

The 28-year-old netted his first Premier League goal since the end of August when he opened the scoring against Nottingham Forest last weekend and Potter is hopeful that it will be the start of a renewed run of form for the England forward.

‘It’s been a challenge for him but it’s been a challenging period for everybody,’ he added. ‘There’s been a lot of change and a lot of things have happened so in that regard it’s never easy to completely settle and hit the ground running.

‘There’s more to come from Raheem but he gives his best every day and we need to help him reach the level we know he can get to.’