Pep Guardiola claimed Jose Mourinho is deserving of more respect as the old foes prepare to lock horns again on Sunday.

Tottenham boss Mourinho was widely criticised for the way in which his time at Manchester United came to a juddering halt amid animosity.

But the Manchester City manager believes Mourinho – who he lived yards away from while the pair both resided in the city centre – should not be solely judged on his time at Old Trafford.

Pep Guardiola said that Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho deserves more respect

They have locked horns for years across Europe as Pep admits his 'incredible respect' for him

The Manchester City boss said Mourinho should not be judged on his time at rivals Man Utd

'The value of Jose as a manager, with all that experience, is not (based on) one season,' Guardiola said. 'I've always had incredible respect for what he's had in his career.

'For 15 or 20 years, he's been there all the time and that must be respected, it's the most difficult thing to be there all the time.

'We get judged for the last game, on something we do. But I try to judge my colleagues not only on one season.

The Portuguese manager's time at Old Trafford was seen as a failure despite some silverware

Pep said that managers have 'good and bad periods' but has the upper hand in recent history

'You have seasons with good and bad periods, you have to rebuild things. In sport you lose more than you win. Michael Jordan won six NBA titles. They (Chicago Bulls) lost more than they but he was the greatest athlete, you keep going and work hard.'

Guardiola had the upper hand on Mourinho for much of their three years alongside each other in Manchester and claimed their jousting while in Spain was 'part of the job'.

The City manager will likely head to London on Sunday without Aymeric Laporte, stating that they do not want to take any risks on the central defender's fatigue following last week's comeback.

Leroy Sane is back in training with the squad but not yet ready to play any part in matches. 'He needs more time, now it's a bit like Aymer he started two or three weeks before he played at Sheffield,' Guardiola added.

'I don't have any new news (on his future). The last info I had was that we made him an offer a long time ago and all the time he didn't reject it, so after that I don't have any news.'