Pep Guardiola has dismissed as “fantasy” the prospect of Manchester City winning the quadruple.
The champions, who are bidding to overhaul Liverpool’s four-point lead in the Premier League, also remain in contention in the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
They secured their place in the final of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday and their FA Cup quest resumes with a fourth-round visit from Burnley on Saturday.
Talk of winning all four was prevalent a year ago before City were beaten by Wigan in the FA Cup fifth round and, again, Guardiola stresses it is unlikely their challenge can continue on all four fronts.
Guardiola said: “We are able to try to win tomorrow – that’s all I can assure you. The other is fantasy.”
Thanks to @burtonalbionfc for a great match tonight!
Best of luck for the rest of the season. 💙 #bafcvcity #mancity pic.twitter.com/EwmBCM71fZ
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 23, 2019
Guardiola left nothing to chance as his City thrashed Championship Rotherham 7-0 in the third round, three days before they hammered League One Burton 9-0 in their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg.
The latter victory enabled Guardiola to field a handful of youngsters in the second leg on Wednesday, but that will not be repeated as he goes all out for victory against Burnley.
“Always we try to make a strong team,” said Guardiola in his pre-match press conference.
“It is FA Cup against a Premier League side in Burnley. We are going to play with the best team we believe to win the game.
“We now have everyone fit except Vinnie (Vincent Kompany). The others are fit an everybody can play. Tomorrow we are not going to play any players from the academy.”
Burnley’s campaign has not matched the heights of last season, when Sean Dyche’s side finished a highly-creditable seventh.
They have found themselves battling to stay out of the bottom three and consequently the FA Cup is unlikely to be their top priority.
However, after a five-game unbeaten run, including four wins, form has improved and Guardiola expects a testing encounter.
He said: “When I hear that for Burnley the FA Cup is not top of the agenda – does it mean the 11 guys who are going to play at the Etihad Stadium won’t want to win? Don’t they want to try to go through? I don’t believe it. They are going to try to play.
“Finishing seventh in the league was an incredible achievement for them. They maybe didn’t start well, but I think they are five or six games in a row winning. I have a lot of respect for what they have done and what they try to do.”