City hoping to turn back the clock to beat Palace

Ralph Milne (no.7) celebrates scoring his second goal against Crystal Palace in Bristol City's 4-1 League Cup win in 1988. Credit: ITV West

Bristol City will be looking to cause another cup upset tonight as they take on Premier League Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the League Cup at Ashton Gate.

Lee Johnson's men have already knocked out two other top flight teams this season - Watford and Stoke City.

A win will take the Robins into the quarter-finals for the first time in nearly 30 years. In that 1988/89 season, as a Third Division club, they famously reached the semi-final - narrowly losing to First Division Nottingham Forest over two legs.

On the way to the semi-final, City also faced tonight's opponents Palace. Managed by Steve Coppell, the Eagles would end the season being promoted to the First Division, but they were no match for Joe Jordan's men - and were swept aside 4-1 at Ashton Gate.

Carl Shutt gave City a 12th minute lead. The late Ralph Milne then scored twice in three first half minutes to put the Robins in complete control. His first, a superb finish past former Bristol Rovers goalkeeper Brian Parkin. It was form like that which prompted Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson to sign Milne just a week or so later in a shock £170,000 deal.

And the upset was complete when Alan Walsh made it 4-0 eight minutes from time, although Palace did grab a consolation when Alan Pardew netted in the 89th minute.

We've been into our archives to find the goals from that game, and you can watch them here:

Palace are currently bottom of the Premier League after losing 8 of their 9 opening matches.

Frank de Boer was sacked as manager early last month after less than 3 months in the job. His replacement is ex-England boss Roy Hodgson, who briefly managed City in 1982.

And now... Hodgson as Crystal Palace manager during the 4-0 defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford last month. Credit: PA

Both City and Palace come into tonight's game off the back of defeats at the weekend. The Robins suffered only their second defeat of the season after losing 3-0 at home to Leeds, while the Eagles succumbed to a late goal at Newcastle.

Johnson and Hodgson are both expected to ring the changes for tonight's clash:

So City fans will be hoping Roy's return to the Gate is an unhappy one, and Palace become their third Premier League scalp this season.

READ MORE: