BEN Gisbon hopes to make more happy Etihad memories when Burnley visit Manchester City on today.

The Clarets are big underdogs to secure an FA Cup upset against Pep Guardiola’s men.

But Gibson has been in that boat before, and won, when Championship side Middlesbrough stunned the then Premier League champions at this stage of the competition in 2015.

And the 26-year-old Burnley centre back can also call on his favourite moment as a football supporter for further inspiration.

Teesside lad Gibson was in the stands when Boro drew 1-1 in East Manchester on the final day of the 2004-05 top flight season to pip City to a Europa League place.

That continental campaign ended with a run to the final the following year and Gibson smiles knowingly at the memory of the May match, when Robbie Fowler saw his last minute spot kick saved by Mark Schwarzer.

“I think we needed a draw to get into Europe and they needed to beat us,” said the Clarets centre back. “Me and my little brother and my mum and dad all had our Boro shirts on. It was fantastic.

“They’d got an equaliser and it was 1-1 and then they got a penalty for handball in the last minute, and up steps Robbie Fowler.

“I remember being in the stand saying Robbie Fowler doesn’t miss penalties.

“But Schwarzer went down to his left and saved it, and as a kid that was one of my best memories, that and the Europe run.”

Gibson has managed only five appearances for the Clarets this season after an injury-hit campaign since his big-money move from his boyhood club in the summer.

But he played in the victory over Barnsley in round three and knows what it takes to knock the champions out of the cup on their own patch in round four.

Four years ago it was another former Burnley man, Patrick Bamford, who was the hero as he opened the scoring in a 2-0 win with Kike adding a late second.

Gibson, whose side lost in the Championship play-off final to Norwich later that season and bowed out to Arsenal in the cup in the next round, played 90 minutes and faced the likes of Sergio Aguero and David Silva, who he could meet again this weekend.

“It was unbelievable going there as a Championship team,” Gibson recalls.

“I think we were second at the time, but you are still a massive underdog.

“Funny enough, everyone writes you off no matter what team you are in, but you always feel you can win and I know we feel the same thing this time here.

“That day was brilliant. We got battered for 85 minutes - it was a bit like the Alamo, but you stay in the game and the clock ticks by minute by minute.

“They don’t want a replay and it gets a little bit more desperate. And you’ve seen what can happen if you just get one opportunity.

“It’s tough when they’re coming at you non-stop, but as a defender you sort of relish it. You wouldn’t relish it if you were 3-0 down and they were still coming at you, but at 0-0 you’re loving it.

“That’s what we’re there for, to defend. We enjoy doing it – blocking shots, heading balls.”

Those characteristics run through this Clarets side and although history is not on Burnley’s side, having not won away at City since the 1960s, but Gibson, who is too young to remember Middlesbrough’s cup final appearance in 1997 when they lost to Chelsea, believes in miracles.

He added: “The cups are great and this is a fantastic opportunity for us to do something special as well.

“It’s a competition that down the years has been fantastic for families. You look back on those memories, and no matter how old you get you remember those days with your families.

“Hopefully, we can produce a big upset, and it will be one day all these families around here will always remember.”