Manchester City v Barnsley
The FA Cup with Budweiser
Sixth Round Proper
5.30pm, Satursday 9 March 2013
The Etihad Stadium, Manchester City FC
Live on ESPN
Winning clubs receive £360,000 from The FA's Prize Fund
Click here for fixtures
By Nicholas Veevers

Luke Steele has backed opposite number Joe Hart to be England’s number one for years to come, as the pair prepare to face off in The FA Cup on Saturday.

The Barnsley goalkeeper rates Hart as England’s best and has backed the Manchester City stopper to prove any critics wrong.

And 28-year-old Steele, who spent four years with City's fierce rivals Manchester United as a youngster, reckons it will be tricky to outshine Hart at the Etihad Stadium.

He said: "For me, he's the best, he's proved he's the best.

"He's come under a bit of stick this year from certain people, but there's nobody better than him, certainly not English anyway.

"Joe's still young in goalkeeping terms and he's going to make mistakes and get things wrong.

"But people don't allow for that. He's only human and they should remember that.

"There's nobody better in the country for me in that position and he's showed that time and again.

"Last year he won the Premier League title, so you can't get much better than that.

"He's going to be around for years to come and I've got the utmost respect for him."

Steele is one of the few Barnsley players still in the Tykes squad who experienced their FA Cup Semi-Final at Wembley back in 2008.

They narrowly lost to Cardiff City that day and missed out on the chance of playing in The Final, but victories over Liverpool and Chelsea in that Cup run remain good memories for Steele.

He added: "It's great to have some experience of these situations.

"To have been there before is a big advantage.

“After that FA Cup run in 2008, I always said I wanted to go back to Wembley and get rid of some demons.

"We lost the game and I have bad memories about it so I want to replace them with good memories.

"To have another opportunity to play there again is huge and if we can do it on Saturday it would be unbelievable."

Watch an interview with Steele, team-mate Chris Dagnall and boss Dave Flitcroft ahead of the game in the Media Gallery above.