Aden Flint smiles at the realisation that Zlatan Ibrahimovic had not long collected another league title for Juventus when the Bristol City defender swapped Pinxton for Alfreton Town in a move that saw him lay the groundwork for the roads he was driving on as well as a career in professional football.

“I started tarmacking when I was playing at Alfreton,” explains Flint. “I was doing stupid hours, plus going to a Tuesday and a Saturday game. One time I was working on the roads in the day in Nottingham, played a game at Alfreton on the evening and then drove to Grimsby for a nightshift, to tarmac. I got back at five in the morning. It was ridiculous. I don’t know how I did it, to be honest. It makes me tired just thinking about it now.”

Thankfully those long days wearing a high-visibility jacket are consigned to the past and the 28-year-old can take satisfaction from the fact that he stands out for rather different reasons now, not least his reputation as one of the most prolific defenders in the Football League. Flint has six goals this season – averaging one every three appearances in the Championship – and has scored 35 times since signing for Bristol City four years ago, including a hat-trick.

It is a remarkable return for a centre-half and represents one of the biggest threats to Manchester United in Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup quarter-final at Ashton Gate, where Flint is relishing the chance to face the club he grew up supporting and a team who have conceded three times from set pieces in their past two matches.

“I go up for a corner or a set piece and I’m not going to lie, I’m angry when the ball doesn’t come near me because I think if you put it near me, there’s a good chance I’m going to head it, and the majority of the time it either goes in the back of the net or it gets us a chance,” Flint says. “And when I say I’m angry when it doesn’t come near me, I actually start swearing at people when they don’t deliver it in the right place, that’s how much it frustrates me. But that’s how much I want to help the team as well.”

What you see is what you get with the 28-year-old Flint, who is 6ft 6in – marginally taller than Ibrahimovic – and plays with great enthusiasm, endearing him to supporters. A late entrant into the full-time game, he knows a thing or two about grafting as well as playing football at the lower end of the pyramid, where pints are almost as important as points.

“Pinxton [in Derbyshire] is my hometown village and about eight levels below the Conference North,” he says. “That was basically pub football before Alfreton. I did that from leaving school, played there for five months and then went to Alfreton, had a couple of years there, went to Swindon and then here. I’ve been making up for lost time. I came into it late and I want to play as long as I can and get as many games as I can – on Saturday it was my 300th career start, which is a nice milestone, but I want to add to that.”

That landmark coincided with a fourth successive Championship victory for Bristol City, who are third in the table and enjoying an excellent season. Lee Johnson’s side have knocked out three Premier League teams to reach the last eight of the League Cup and the excitement around the club is almost tangible. All 26,200 tickets have been sold for the United game, which means that Ashton Gate will host its biggest crowd since £45m was spent redeveloping the ground.

“When I came the stadium was old and now it is state-of-the-art,” says Flint. “It shows the ambition that the chairman has got and what everyone at the club wants – they’ve got a vision and we’re building towards being at the top and being in the Premier League, and that’s what we all want. The team is fantastic, it’s got unbelievable spirit, but alongside that you’ve got some ridiculously talented players to go with it, and I think that’s a great blend and that’s why we’re doing so well.”

Johnson, City’s head coach, joked that Flint must be “trying to get a move” when he heard that the defender had mentioned he was a United fan, although it turns out that he was a genuine supporter back in the day. Flint’s father followed them home and away and son was quickly hooked. “The Treble-winning season really meant something to me – you look at that team they had then: Beckham, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Schmeichel, Yorke, Cole – ridiculous,” Flint says. “I wish I was playing against them – that would be the icing on the cake.”

For now, however, Flint is more than happy to settle for taking on Ibrahimovic – “Zlatan’s a footballing icon,” he says – and looking forward to trying to get on the end of one of those dead-ball deliveries that make his eyes light up. “There’s no point going up there just for the sake of it,” Flint adds. “Every time I want to put it in the back of the net, because there’s not a better feeling than running off celebrating.”

City won’t be lacking bottle

José Mourinho’s time comes at a cost and Bristol City are more than happy to pay what it takes to keep the Manchester United manager on the premises after Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup quarter-final, even if it means parting with £450 for a bottle of red wine to “seduce” him into the head coach’s office.

Lee Johnson, Mourinho’s opposite number, revealed that he had left no stone unturned to ensure that the Portuguese is discouraged from making a sharp exit at Ashton Gate, right down to identifying the correct person to pour the bottle of Barca Velha 2004 that has set him back a small fortune.

Asked whether he anticipated spending a bit of time with Mourinho after the game, Johnson replied: “Well, I hope so. I spent £450 on a bottle of wine. I had to raid my little girl’s piggy bank. This bottle of wine is being specially flown in from Portugal. We’ve done the due diligence and realised that José likes this particular bottle that has to be poured specially by an expert. So hopefully he’ll come in and have a little chat with me and I’ll try to pick his brain for five or 10 minutes, or as long as it takes to drink the wine.

“I’ve been obsessed about making sure that we get this correct bottle of wine to seduce him into the office. We finally found it – it’s a bottle of Barca Velha Red 2004, £450. Maybe I’ll try and get a loan or two out of it.”