Cardiff City ace planning to prove Leeds United 'level' and refutes Man Utd Whites rivalry claim

Formerly of Manchester United's Academy, Liverpudlian Sang has also dismissed the suggestion of any personal needle, insisting the Red Devils rivalry is more focused on Liverpool. Cardiff and Leeds will lock horns in the FA Cup's third round on Sunday afternoon in a 2pm kick-off at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Having gone seven league games without a win, the hosts are fifth-bottom in the Championship table meaning they are 26 places below Leeds who sit 14th in the country's top division. Sang, though, is optimistic of proving the magnitude of that gap all wrong and fully believes his side can seal their place in the fourth round draw.

"We are really looking forward to it," said Sang to cardiffcityfc.co.uk. "Any time we can get an opposition like a Premier League side, I think it's a big incentive for all our lads to do well and go and prove that they are not a big level above and that we can go and get a result against them and move on to the next stage.

"The identity of Leeds is you know they are always going to be at it from minute one right up until the final whistle. Their intensity is really high. I think we have got to be switched on at all times but I think we are going to throw everything at it and try and get a good result. When you know it's going to be a proper fixture and it's going to have a lot of support behind it, it gets you going even more."

Asked if there was a bit of personal needle with Leeds given his Manchester United roots, Sang reasoned: "To be fair, whenever I was there, I never played against Leeds while I was at the Academy and stuff. But I never really heard of it. It's more Liverpool for them while I was there."