"We will collect all the points" - Miron Muslic fires Plymouth Argyle warning ahead of Hull City clash | OneFootball

The Pilgrims were beaten by City late on, but full attention now turns back to the Championship with survival their target.

Plymouth Argyle manager, Miron Muslic, believes that his team can take positives out of their FA Cup fifth round defeat to Manchester City as they return to Championship duties on Tuesday evening.

The Premier League giants ran out 3-1 winners at the Etihad Stadium in the late kick-off on Saturday, but they were forced to come from behind to beat their Championship opposition after Maksym Talovierov shocked the hosts with a superb header in the 38th minute.

City were able to rally and Nico O'Reilly's goal just before the break saw parity return, with the youngster handing his side the lead with less than a quarter of an hour to play.

Kevin De Bruyne sealed the win in the final minute after Erling Haaland presented the Belgian with an open goal to give Pep Guardiola's team their place in the quarter-final.

Nevertheless, it was an excellent day for the incredible 7,500 Plymouth supporters who made the long journey from Devon to Manchester and now full focus will be back on the fight for survival in the second tier.

Miron Muslic makes Plymouth claim ahead of their return to Championship action

After beating the Premier League leaders and one of the strongest teams in Europe, Liverpool, in the last round at Home Park, there was a huge amount of anticipation ahead of Argyle's clash with Manchester City, and the roof nearly came off the Etihad Stadium when they took the lead.

While it was not to be on this occasion, Muslic will see his side's clash at the MKM Stadium against Hull City as a far bigger opportunity to cause a stir, with the knowledge that a win will see Plymouth go level on points with the Tigers.

Although it is incredibly unlikely that the Pilgrims will take themselves out of the bottom three due to the goal difference situation, victory will put a huge amount of pressure on those above them.

Speaking to the media following the defeat to the Premier League champions, Muslic revealed the amount of belief he has in his team to continue turning their season around, which can be seen as a warning to the likes of Derby County and Hull City - their opponents on Tuesday.

"I think we can only be disappointed with the result but very proud of our performance," Muslic said.

"I think we gave Manchester City a game, and we gave them a proper game.

"It's one of the best teams in this world, coached by the best coach in this sport.

"I think we had an excellent game plan and the lads just executed this game plan with the structure, the organisation you need to survive here, but especially also with the passion and the heart that's with us now for the last seven, eight, nine weeks, and I think with tactical discipline.

"We knew there would be a lot of moments similar to Liverpool where we have to defend very organised and very structured, but there would also be moments where we could escape, steal the ball and start our transitional threat, and maybe be dangerous on the set pieces."

Muslic continued: "That was exactly the plan so I think we did it well, it's a just a little bit of a pity that we conceded the equaliser with the final whistle of the first half.

"Then I'm completely aware what is about to happen in the second half, especially what they have on the bench to put in. We tried everything. We gave Manchester City a big, big challenge and I'm very proud of this.

"This will give us the confidence boost. We are hard to beat, we are hard to play and this is always the right ingredients especially in our situation where we are facing a potential relegation.

"We will need exactly this spirit and then we will collect all the points we have to to stay up."

Plymouth cannot afford to lose away at Hull City on Tuesday evening

Plymouth's game against Hull is the latest in an incredibly important few weeks that has already seen them draw 1-1 away at Luton Town before they welcome Derby County to Home Park later this month.

It is vital that the Pilgrims do not allow their opponents on Tuesday to take any advantage in the fight for survival, as a victory for the Tigers will see them go six points clear of the bottom three.

Plymouth have sparked back to life under Muslic and he has been able to tap into a part of his players' game that they were not able to demonstrate under Wayne Rooney - making them a harder side to beat in the process.

If they continue at their current pace, there is no reason to believe that they cannot secure their survival late on, as they did last season, but they cannot afford to allow Hull to create a gap to them heading into the final couple of months of the campaign.