Manchester City show class by inviting Port Vale players into dressing room to share joke with Tom Pope

Vale striker had claimed he would score '40 a season' playing against City defender John Stones

Port Vale's Tom Pope celebrates scoring their first goal as Manchester City's Angelino looks on. City would go on to winb the FA Cup third-round tie 4-1. Reuters

Manchester City showed their sense of humour after Saturday's FA Cup win against Port Vale by inviting players of the League Two club into their dressing room.

Vale striker Tom Pope posted a message on Twitter in June criticising City defender John Stones, claiming he would love to play against the England international and that he would "score 40 a season".

And while Pope got on the score sheet against City, drawing Vale level towards the end of the first half at the Etihad Stadium, City ultimately ran out 4-1 winners thanks to goals from Aleks Zinchenko, Sergio Aguero, Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Phil Foden to move into the fourth round.

After the game, City's players invited their Vale counterparts into their dressing room and the subject of Pope's social media post about Stones was top of the agenda.

"Manchester City couldn’t have treated us any better, they invited the players in after the game and they have had a bit of a laugh, especially about Popey and John Stones, as you can imagine," said Vale manager John Askey.

Immediately after the defeat, Pope, who came face-to-face with Stones during the match, tweeted: "I'd just like to say I was completely wrong and bang out of order to say I'd score 40 a season..... it's more like 50."